Man's Best Friend
by Otter-Love-ASL
Summary: When Jay's PTSD starts to get out of control, what will Hailey do to help her partner? Does her plan work as planned or does it stray some? Upstead friendship. Halstead brothers. Halstead with a puppy. ***Temporarily on Hiatus to Edit and add to AO3*** ***Chapters 1-15 Edited***
1. PTSD

"Jay," Hailey calls while knocking on his apartment door. Getting impatient with her partner, Hailey uses her emergency key to get into his apartment, glad for once that Voight made them trade keys with their partners after Kevin was kidnapped. Opening the door, with her gun drawn, Hailey looks around the apartment. Nothing seems out of place, albeit messier than what her partner's normal standard of clean is. As she makes her way to his bedroom, she can hear a strangled cry coming from Jay's room.

Heart dropping, Hailey opens his door to see Jay tossing and turning, tangled in his sheets, caught in a nightmare. Remembering how Adam told her about the time he tried to wake Jay and almost got punched in the face, so she finds a pillow that is laying on the floor and throws it at him.

Jay jolts up, feeling the pillow hit him. "Hailey?" He questions, "What are you doing here?" He asks when he realizes she is in the doorway to his room.

"I used the key. You weren't answering your phone and I was knocking on your door for ten minutes. I got worried."

"Sorry," Jay apologizes remembering that Hailey was giving him a ride since his truck was in the shop for an inspection. "Give me fifteen minutes."

"Jay, we're going to be late."

"Ten, help yourself to coffee," Jay tells her, trying to get on her good side by offering coffee.

Hailey goes to raid his kitchen for coffee while Jay goes to take a shower.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jay is ready and Hailey is happy with her coffee and hands Jay a cup to go.

"So… have you been sleeping okay?" Hailey asks Jay once they are in the car.

"Fine."

"How have your meetings been going?"

"Good, helpful."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know," Jay answers before looking out the window hoping that she takes the hint to end the conversation.

Walking into the bullpen, the pair are the last to arrive. "Halstead, Upton. You're cutting it close.

"Sorry, Sarge," the two reply in unison.

"Now that everyone's here," Voight continues, "This is José Martinez, second in command of a rising gang, responsible for the bad dope that's been hitting the streets. Nobody seems to know who is running the show. Contact your CIs and see if you can get any information on this gang."

The unit does as their told, Hailey keeping an eye on Jay. Even if they are not partners at the moment, Hailey is always going to have his back. He has open up to her, telling her things that not even his brother or Erin know. Since waking him up from what seemed to be a nightmare this morning, Hailey doesn't believe that he is as fine as he claims to be.

Looking over at Jay, she can't help but notice his appearance. To everyone else, it may just seem like he is tired, but to someone who knows him, there is more to bags under his eyes than just being tired and there is a bit of a haunted look in his eyes.

Hailey makes a mental note to talk to Will and see if there's anything they can do for the younger Halstead brother.

* * *

"You guys going to hit Molly's with us?" Kim asks the two detectives at the end of the day.

Jay and Hailey look at each other before answering, "I'm taking Jay to get his truck and then I'll meet you guys," Hailey tells her.

"I'm going to pass," Jay tells them.

"Okay," Kim answers. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." With that answer, the officers of the unit head out leaving the two detectives.

"You sure you're good?" Hailey asks Jay. "I can skip Molly's if you need to do our thing."

"I'm fine, really. Just tired."

"Okay, let's get your truck." The two head out to the parking lot and get into Hailey's car. The car ride is silent as she drives to the auto-shop where Jay's truck is at, dropping him off. "Call me if you need anything," Hailey tells him as he is getting out of her car,

Jay acknowledges her with a nod of the head. Figuring that's all she will get from Jay at the moment, she leaves to meet up with everyone at Molly's.

* * *

"Hailey," Kim calls when she sees her entering the bar.

"Hey, guys. What'd I miss?"

"Nothing much. Just Kev and Adam trying to hit on girls and failing," Vanessa answers.

Just as Hailey was about to make a dig at the two guys, she sees a familiar red-head walk into the bar with his co-workers, "I'll be right back," she tells her team.

Standing up she walks over to the doctor, "Hey, Will. Got a second?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I'm worried about Jay. I think his PTSD is getting worse. Has he talked to you at all?"

"No, he hasn't. He's not exactly open with me. Maybe go to Voight? Can't he force Jay into therapy?"

"I could, but I don't want to lose the progress that I've made with him."

"Maybe if he could talk to someone that can't judge him," Ethan chimes in.

"I wouldn't judge him," Hailey defends herself.

"But he might think you would. I got a parrot for my PTSD, it helped. I can talk to it and it doesn't even know what I'm talking about."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea, Hailey," Will tells her. "When I was staying with Jay, he got along well with Kohl. I saw him talking with him when he thought I wasn't looking."

"So, you're saying I should convince him to get a pet? That's not going to happen with the hours we work."

"There are actually some non-profit programs, that pair vets with PTSD service dogs."

"Jay doesn't need a service dog," Hailey argues.

"It's not what you think. The dogs are trained to do different things depending on the need of the handler. They can distract if they are getting agitated, or they can wake them up from nightmares, there are also some that are trained to get their handler out of crowded spaces," Ethan tells her.

"It sounds like a good idea, Jay always had a soft spot for dogs growing up. We weren't allowed to have one, but Jay always loved dogs," Will adds.

"Look into the programs, there are a few that have local bases," Ethan tells her.

"I'll look into it if you guys think it will help him."

"It's worth a shot," Will answers. "The worse thing that happens is that he doesn't get paired with a dog."

"I'll look into it later this week. Thanks, guys," Hailey thanks them before going back to the intelligence gang.

"What was that about?" Adam asks.

"I just had to ask Will something," Hailey answers, not wanting to give away her conversation about her partner that she had with his brother, while also making a mental note to look up the organizations that Ethan was talking about.


	2. Can a Service Dog Work?

That weekend, Hailey spent a good amount of time researching service dogs and PTSD in veterans. She learned that service dogs for PTSD do a multitude of tasks such as retrieving medication, searching the home to alleviate hypervigilance, guiding their handler home during a dissociative episode, using tactile intervention when the handler is experiencing sensory overload, and turning on the lights and waking their handler if they are having night terrors.

Seeing that these tasks are only the beginning of what a service dog can do because it is based off of what their handler needs, Hailey is starting to be convinced that this could be good for Jay; but at the same time, she is worried if this could affect his job.

Another question to add to her list.

After looking up the information on service dogs, Hailey then goes on to look up the organizations that Ethan was talking about. Finding many organizations, she narrows down the search to ones that help veterans, coming up with K9s for Warriors and Pets for Vets.

From what Hailey could tell from their websites, Pets for Vets is more about giving veterans companions rather than services dogs. Looking at their FAQs, Hailey knows that Jay is not going for the three-week training at the facility.

_Call me when you get a chance and you're not with Jay_, Hailey texts Will.

* * *

Twenty minutes later her phone rings, picking it up she sees that it is Will calling her.

"Is everything okay?" Will asks her.

"Yeah, I just talk with you more about the dog thing."

"Okay, what about it?"

"So the first thing would be, would it affect his job?"

"It shouldn't since he would only really be using the dog when he would be alone. That seems to be when it is at its worst, right?"

"Okay, my other concern is, if Jay is accepted, how do we get him to participate in the three-week training. It's a twenty-four-seven training."

"Yeah," Will says slowly, "there's no way he'll go for that."

"There's also getting the letter of recommendation from the therapist who Jay is working with."

"Okay, if we train the dog ourselves we can worry about the letter of recommendation later."

"I think you're forgetting something. We don't have a dog," Hailey reminds Will.

"Let me make a call. I know a guy who's dog just had a litter of pups. He's been trying to get rid of the runt. He's just about giving the dog away, but no one wants the runt of the litter."

"Okay, let me know how that goes. Are you sure that Jay is going to go for this?"

"I don't know if he'll go for it at first, but if I know one thing about my brother, it's that he has a big heart, especially for animals and kids." After a few more minutes, the two hang up.

* * *

Monday morning, Hailey walks into the break room of the intelligence office to find Jay asleep on the couch. Watching him, she can see the bags under his eyes, as he becomes restless. "Jay," Hailey places a hand on his leg, hoping not to startle him too much, "Jay, wake up. You're dreaming."

Jay startles awake, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "Hailey? What are you doing here?"

"'What am I doing here?' Jay, what are you doing sleeping in the break room?"

"I came in here to take a nap," Jay answers as he sits up.

"Nap? It's seven-thirty in the morning," Hailey tells him as she sits down next to him. "What time did you get here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I came in at five and then I got tired. I was just going to lay down for a couple of minutes."

"Okay, it's just us, Kim and Vanessa here so far. So, why don't you drink some coffee and I'll keep them out of here until you wake up?" Hailey asks while rubbing his back in a comforting manner.

"Thanks," he thanks Hailey as she hands him a mug of coffee.

* * *

"Hailey, Jay, Rojas. Take a ride and see what you find at the LKA," Voight orders.

"I'm driving," Hailey states, knowing that Jay probably shouldn't be driving, but at the same time not wanting to say anything in front of Vanessa. Jay gets in the passenger seat and Vanessa in the back seat.

"So, do you think this will get us anywhere?" She asks the two detectives.

"One can hope," Hailey answers. Vanessa not noticing Jay being unusually quiet in the passenger seat.

Arriving at the location, the three get out of the car and start searching the outside of the building. Finding nothing unusual, they search the inside and find thousands in hundred dollar bills, but no products. They call it in before they start collecting it as evidence.

* * *

Calling it a day, the majority of the intelligence unit decides to decompress at Molly's. Jay decides to skip going once again and this time Hailey is going to her partner's because whether he wants it or not he is going to have company.

No sooner does Jay get home, when Hailey knocks on his door.

"What are you doing here?" He asks her, as he steps back enough to let her in.

"It's been a while since we've done 'our thing'," she states while holding a bottle of tequila.

"I don't really feel like talking."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you sit by yourself."

"Fine," Jay gives in as he grabs them some glasses.

"How have you been? For real?"

"It's hard. I don't want what I did over there to define me, but I can feel myself slipping," Jay admits slowly.

"Have you been going to your group?"

"It doesn't help."

"That's not an answer."

"Not as much as before."

"What about therapy? Did you try going back to that?"

"Yeah, but… it. I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't seem to help. The nightmares, the insomnia, it all seems to be getting worse."

Hailey uses this as an opportunity to ask, "Have you ever considered getting a pet to talk to? I've heard that has helped some people."

"With our hours?" Jay responds.

"Would you though?"

"Maybe in the future. You know, marriage, kids, pets," Jay trails off wanting to end the conversation.

"I think there's a replay of the Sox game," Hailey changes the subject, not wanting Jay to shut down on her.

* * *

The rest of the week for the intelligence unit continues, much the same. After shutting their current case, they quickly receive another one, this time involving three missing kids of aldermen.

Due to the high profile of the case, the team is working tirelessly on getting the missing children back, while to Voight's dismay, by the book.

On Thursday, just before they are getting ready to leave for the night, Hailey gets a text from Will, _Talked to my contact. Can get it on Saturday, just bring Jay. I'll take care of the rest._

_Great. I owe you_, she texts him back.

_No, once I told him about the situation, he gave a great price for it. And if it helps him_.

"Hey, Jay. You busy on Saturday?" she asks.

"No, why?"

"If I pick you up, can you give me a hand with an errand?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I'll tell you Saturday," Hailey answers.


	3. Meeting Casper

Saturday morning at nine o'clock, Hailey is at Jay's door to pick him up. "Never thought I'd see you up voluntarily up before noon on a weekend," Jay teases his partner as he opens the door for her.

"Hey, this is important," Hailey defends herself, "and not everyone is a morning person like you are."

"So, are you going to tell me what this errand of yours is?" Jay questions when they get into the car.

"When we get there," she answers.

The two spend the car ride in silence, Hailey not much of a morning person and Jay being particularly quiet recently.

After pulling up to a farmhouse after two hours, Hailey turns to look at Jay, "We're here."

"Where is here? And is that Will's car?" He asks as he looks around.

"Hey, guys," Will greats as he walks up to them before Hailey could answer.

"What's going on?" Jay questions again, hoping to get an answer out of one of them.

Hailey and Will look at each other, "Well, we know your PTSD-" Will starts before Jay cuts him off.

"So this is what? Some inpatient PTSD program? I'm not crazy!" Jay yelled.

"No, Jay. This is not an inpatient PTSD program and we don't think you're crazy," Hailey soothed.

"Then what is this?" Jay asks getting anxious.

"Why don't we go in? Liam is waiting for us," Will informs his brother.

The three walk up to the door, before one of them can knock, the door opens. "Will good to see you. And you must be the brother?"

"Yeah, I'm Jay," he introduces himself. "Can you tell me what's going on? Because these two aren't telling me anything."

"Your brother called me earlier this week about a dog."

"A dog? Will, what is he talking about?"

"That's where Will was trying to go earlier when he mentioned your PTSD," Hailey answers.

"What does my PTSD have to do with a dog?"

"Some people who have PTSD do well with service dogs for it."

"Service dog? No, I don't need anything that will affect my job."

"It won't," Will tells him. "We were going to train it to wake you from nightmares and to help you when you're alone, that seems to be when your PTSD is at its worse."

"My PTSD isn't that bad," Jay deflects.

"Why don't you meet the dog before you make any decisions," Liam suggests. "He's a yellow lab, three months old. He was the runt of the litter, so no one wanted him. I think you could give him a good home."

"The runt?" Jay questions, his tone softer.

"Yeah, he's healthy now, but people are always afraid of taking on the runt."

"I guess I could meet him," Jay gives in.

Liam leads Jay to where the dog is, "His name is Casper because he was so small, but very friendly." Jay sits down on the floor and Casper goes over to him and rolls over in front of Jay, wanting attention. "I think he likes you," Liam says as Casper starts climbing on Jay, trying to lick him.

"What happens if it doesn't work out? I mean training his as a service dog?"

"He'd still be a good companion," Liam tells the detective as Casper looks up at Jay.

"I guess, it wouldn't hurt to try," Jay gives in looking at Casper. "And I always wanted a dog. Do you want to come home with me?" He asks the puppy. Casper looks at Jay, with trust in his eyes, wagging his tail at the question. "I guess that's a yes," Jay laughs as he picks up Casper before walking back to the room where Hailey and his brother were.

"So, is this a yes?" Hailey asks when she sees Jay walking out to them while carrying the dog.

"It's a yes," answers Jay.

"Let me get you his papers and you'll be good to go," Liam tells the trio.

* * *

"Are you mad at us?" Hailey asks Jay in the car on the way back to Chicago.

"I was, but I know you guys were just trying to help me," he answers as he rubs Casper's ears, the dog not wanting to leave Jay, even only to be in the back of the car, so Jay gave in letting the dog sit on his lap on the way back.

"So, I figured we can stop at a pet store when we get closer," Hailey mentions. "Casper needs dog food, you need to get a food bowl and water bowl, a leash and collar, maybe get him some toys."

"Yeah, good idea," Jay replies. "Hey, how do you know what I need to get him?"

"Will gave me a list of what dogs need," she answers like it is obvious.

"Do you think we can keep this between the three of us for now?" Jay asks her.

"What?" Hailey asks confused. "That you got a dog?"

"No, that we're training him for my PTSD. I just- I.." Jay trails off not knowing what he want to say. Casper can tell that his new master is getting anxious, so he starts licking Jay's hand, seemingly calming Jay.

"Yeah, no problem. Might want to let Will know though."

The two detectives spend the rest of their drive talking about cases from work and Chicago sports, Casper content sleeping on Jay's lap.

* * *

"Okay, first thing is a collar and leash so you can get rid of these rope ones," Hailey tells Jay as they enter Pet Smart. Looking over the choices, Jay picks out a royal blue collar and a matching standard flat lead leash.

"Next, food and bowls," Hailey reads off the list from her phone. Jay gets a puppy specific food and two metal bowls.

"Okay, now optional a crate and/or dog bed."

"It probably would be good to crate train him until he's out of the puppy stage," Jay answers. "But, is he going to feel like he's in jail?"

"Who knew you could be such a softie?" Hailey teases him. "But some dogs actually feel safer in crates."

The three make their way to the crates, "Wow, does your list say what kind to get?" Jay asks when he sees the different sizes.

"No, we should probably ask someone."

Catching an employee who was walking past, Jay decides to get a crate that Casper can grow into, considering he should get much bigger. Their last stop is to get some toys and bones for Casper.

Once Jay got everything he needed for Casper, they head back to Jay's apartment. Putting the collar and leash on the dog, Jay lets him walk up to his apartment, holding the leash while Hailey and him grab the bags.

"Hailey, can you stay with him while I get the crate?" Jay asks as he puts the bag of dog food down.

"I can grab it," Hailey tries to tell him.

"No, Hailey. I've got it."

Fifteen minutes later, Jay returns with the crate. Deciding that it would be best to set it up in his room, Jay puts it together in the corner of the room, before placing an old blanket inside for Casper, he then places another blanket on the outside of the crate to make it feel closed in and safe for Casper.

Once she feels that Jay and Casper are good Hailey decides it is time for her to leave to let the two bond. "Jay, I'm going to head out. Text me if you need anything," she orders her partner. Turning to Casper she tells the dog, "You be good for your dad." Casper responds by wagging his tail and giving her a friendly bark.

Hailey leaves feeling good about the situation, and for once, she is not overly worried about her partner, knowing that he has someone who will be loyal to him and will love him like he deserves, getting the unconditional love that only an animal can give their human.


	4. Bonding and Back to Work

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday Jay spent time bonding with Casper. Jay decided that is best to start with teaching Casper simple commands before teaching him the tasks that Hailey and Will mentioned to help with his PTSD.

While trying to teach Casper simple commands such as _sit_, _lay down_, _come_, _stay_, _heel_, _leave it_, and _no_, Jay noticed that Casper listened to him well. "Good boy," Jay praises after Casper completed the command correctly.

Looking at the time, Jay guesses that Will is off work for the day unless an emergency came in at the end of his shift. "Do you want to go for a walk?" Jay asks Casper. Casper responds by running around excitedly in a circle, "I guess that's a yes," Jay tells himself.

Jay picks up his phone and calls Will as he goes to grab Casper's leash. Seeing his leash, Casper runs over to Jay.

"Hey, everything okay?" Jay hears his brother ask when he picks up.

"Yeah, everything is fine," Jay answers. "Are you done work for the day?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was just going to take Casper for a walk and wanted to see if you wanted to meet up with Kohl?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Meet at Lincoln Park?" Will answers.

"Okay, see you there." Jay hangs up with Will before clipping the leash to Casper's collar, "Let's go Casper. We're going to see Uncle Will."

* * *

"Hey," Will greets as he and Kohl walk up to Jay and Casper.

"Hey."

"Here," Will says as he hands Jay a leash wrap.

"What is it?" Jay questions as examines the object, noting that it says _do not distract service dog in training _on both sides.

"It's a leash wrap," Will explains, "it goes around his leash. They're supposed to let people know he's a working dog and to not disturb him."

"Thanks," Jay tells his brother as he puts it around Casper's leash.

"So, is everything okay?" Will asks his brother.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because normally you don't ask to spend time together unless we're going to watch the game."

"I can't want to spend time with my brother?"

"No. You can, I just want to make sure you're okay. It's my job as your older brother."

"Isn't it my job to protect you? I mean, I'm the cop."

"You know what I mean. So how is it going with the dog."

"It's good. Casper is good."

"Are you going to start training him soon?"

"I started last night with basic commands. Once he gets the hang of those, I'll start with the ones that you and Hailey said I should teach him."

"How is he doing with those commands?"

"Good, he's good at listening. Catching on well."

"Yeah, I think Liam said something about how he had already started teaching him basic commands, something about hoping it would help find him a good home."

They walk in silence for a while before Jay brings up what he talked with Hailey about, "So, do you mind keeping this between the three of us?" he asks his brother.

"What?" Will is confused by the request.

"That I got Casper for the intent of a service dog. Between you, me, and Hailey," Jay elaborates, "I'll tell the team eventually, but right now I need time. For now, all they need to know is I got a dog."

"Okay. Whatever you feel is right. How was Casper last night?"

"He was good, slept in his cage."

* * *

Jay walks up the stairs to intelligence Monday morning, for the first time in a few weeks he made it in at a normal time. Having closed their latest case, Voight fills in his team on the next case that they have. "Alright guys, we got this case from violent crimes."

"Why did we get it from them?" asked Rojas.

"They've been working on it for three weeks and got nothing, so the higher-ups reassigned it."

"So what's the case?"

"A string of home invasions throughout Edison Park. The only connection is that they live in the neighborhood and all of the families have two children: a son and daughter. In three of the five invasions, the boy was the older child."

"Upton and Rojas I want you to reinterview the first two families; Halstead and Burgess the last three; Ruzek and Atwater I want you to gather all the information you can on these families to see if anything else connects them. Remember, nothing is too small a detail."

Upton and Rojas, and Halstead and Burgess both head out to talk with the families while Ruzek and Atwater started on the research side of the investigation.

* * *

"Mrs. Jacobs, I know you already spoke with the other detectives, but is there anything that you can think of?" Jay asks the wife of the most recent home invasion.

"I don't think so. Everything was so normal," she responds.

"Have there been anyone new coming into your house? Repairman, cable guy or anything like that?" Kim adds.

"No. Not recently."

"Recently?" Jay asks.

"We had someone come in, maybe three months ago to fix the internet," Mrs. Jacobs answers him.

"Okay, thank you for your time," Kim replies as she and Jay leave.

"So what do you think?' Jay asks as they get into the car.

"I think, if she's telling the truth there are no connections. But she could be hiding something, did you notice the way she hesitated?"

"Yeah," Jay paused, looking at the time, noting that he needs to let Casper out. "Do you mind if we make a detour? I need to take care of something."

Kim is hesitant to answer, "Are you okay?" She asks, knowing she might be overstepping.

"Yeah. Fine. It will only take ten minutes, fifteen max."

"Okay, do you need back up?"

"No, you can wait in the car."

Driving to his apartment, Kim begins to have an idea of where they are going. Having never been to his place, but knows the general neighborhood where he lives, Kim asks, "What are we doing in your neighborhood?"

"Ten minutes, just wait in the car," Jay tells her as he parks the car and gets out.

* * *

"Hey, Casper," Jay greets as he enters his bedroom going to the cage. Casper greets Jay excitedly, not used to being separated from his owner for hours at a time. "Come on, let's go outside," Jay speaks to Casper, noticing that he didn't have an accident in his cage, that he'd have to clean up before going back to work.

Jay clips on his leash before walking Casper out. Once outside, Jay encourages Casper to go to the bathroom. Praising him when he does go, Jay is about to take him back in when he hears his name being called.

"Jay," Kim calls, "when did you get a dog?"

"I thought I said to stay in the car," Jay answers annoyed, trying to hide the leash wrap.

"I was. Until I looked up and saw you with a dog."

"I got him Saturday," Jay answers.

"Were you going to tell us about him?" Kim asks, "What if you got shot and no one knew about him?"

"Hailey and Will know about him. They were with me when I got him."

"What's his name?" Kim asks as she puts her hand out for the dog to sniff.

"Casper."

"Like the ghost?"

"He's three months old and already had the name when I got him on Saturday. I didn't want to change his name and confuse him," Jay answers. "We should be getting back to the district. Let me take him back in and I'll meet you in the car.

Taking Casper back up takes little time, Jay gives him a treat before putting him back in the crate, promising to be back later in the afternoon to let him out again.

* * *

"So, what made you get a dog?" Kim asks when Jay returns to the car.

"Will knew a guy who's dog just had a litter of pups. He thought I could use the company."

"Were you going to keep him a secret?"

"I wasn't going to tell you guys per se, but if it came up I wasn't going to lie about him," Jay answers cryptically.

"Why?"

"You know that I like to keep my personal and work life separated."

"Okay," Kim gets the sense that Jay is starting to get annoyed with all the questions about his dog. "What do you think the others found out?" She asks changing the subject.

"Hopefully more than us," Jay answers as they pull up to the Twenty-First.


	5. Partners: Human & Canine

Getting back to the Twenty-First, they see that the rest of the team is waiting on them. "About time you guys got back," Voight tells them when the two-step into his line of sight.

"Sorry, Sarge," Jay quickly apologizes, hoping to prevent Kim from mentioning they stopped to let Casper out.

"Did you guys get anything new or helpful?" Voight asks barely giving an acknowledgment of the apology.

"Not much," Kim answers. "There was a cable guy at the last home about three months ago, but nothing with the third or fourth home."

"Three months seems like a long time to do nothing," Adam adds.

* * *

The team continues to chase leads for several hours, all of which were dead ends. During this time, Jay used the excuse of needing to meet a CI in the late afternoon, as an escape to let Casper out again.

"Everyone, call it a night," Voight orders. "We can start fresh in the morning," Voight tells them before going back into his office, shutting the door.

"Molly's?" Ruzek is the first one to break the silence.

While the rest of the team gives their confirmation that they would be going, Hailey looks at her partner to see what he decides.

"I'm going to pass," Jay decides.

"Come on, man," Ruzek complains. "You haven't been out with us in weeks."

"I need to get some stuff done at home," Jay defends himself.

"Fine, but if you finish what you need to do early, stop by." The officers of the unit leave, leaving the two detectives in the bullpen.

"Do you want to come over for pizza and beer? I was looking up some tips for training Casper yesterday," Hailey lets him know.

"Can we do it another time? I need to let him out and he's been in his cage all day," Jay asks, reluctant to leave Casper alone for any longer than necessary.

Hailey is happy to see that her partner is forming such an attachment to Casper and offers, "You can bring him too."

"What about Vanessa?" Jay asks since she is still living with Hailey.

"She usually gets back late," Hailey answers.

"Okay. I can pick up the beer before I go home to get him."

"Sounds good. I'll order the pizza." The two walk out to the parking lot and go to their cars before going their separate ways for the time being.

* * *

True to his word, Jay stops on his way home to pick up a six-pack of beer for them. Arriving at his apartment complex, Jay leaves the beer in his truck before getting out to get Casper from his apartment.

"Hey, boy," Jay greets the puppy. Casper who is excited to see Jay happily wags his tail while waiting to be let out of his cage. Finally out of the cage, Casper jumps up on Jay before rolling on his back looking for attention. "I know, I missed you too," Jay tells Casper as he gives the puppy a belly rub. "Come. You need to go outside." Casper follows on Jay's heels, waiting for his leash to be put on.

After putting on Casper's leash, Jay makes sure he has his keys, Casper's bowls and a zip-lock bag of dog food before shutting the door behind them.

"Good boy," Jay praises when Casper goes. Walking over to his truck, Jay picks up the dog placing him in the passenger seat, "Stay," Jay commands after taking off Casper's leash.

Walking over to the driver's side, Jay gets in his truck holding out a hand to stop Casper from climbing over to sit on his lap. Eventually, Jay gives up and rests a hand on top of Casper's head, this action making the dog settle down for the ride to Hailey's.

"Hey," Hailey greets the two when she sees Jay's truck pull up.

"Were you watching out for us?" Jay asks in a joking manner, as he gets Casper out of the car and grabs the beer and Casper's things from the back seat before turning back to his partner.

"Eh, I figured you would have your hands full," Hailey tells him as she takes the six-pack from his hand. "Pizza should be here in ten," Hailey tells him as she lets the two into her house.

Going over to her kitchen, Jay asks, " Do you mind if I feed him here?"

"Go ahead. Do you need something to put it in?"

"No, we're good," Jay answers as he pours the bag of dog food into the first bowl and water from the sink into the second. "Here, you go boy," Jay speaks to Casper as he puts the bowls in front of him.

Hailey smile to herself as she sees how her partner interacts with the small dog. She knows from the rare childhood stories of Jay that she can get out of Will, that Jay was a very caring person. She still sees that when he is working with victims of their cases, but to see him taking such care of a small animal who is completly dependent on him, is something completely different. Hailey knows from Will, that after his mother died, Jay had closed off, not wanting to get close to anyone to protect himself.

Just as he's about to say something to her, the doorbell rings, most likely the pizza. Hailey answers the door to get the pizza while Jay grabs plates for them. Getting their plates and beer, Hailey leads them to the couch. Casper, who has finished his dinner, decided to lay on Jay's feet.

"So, I was looking up videos on how to train service dogs to do certain tasks, and I found one that could help you."

"What is it?"

"Waking up the handler, you, from nightmares using deep pressure."

"Okay. How do we do that?"

"You're going to do it in pieces. The first step is when you're sitting down, getting Casper to lay on your lap." At the sound of his name, Casper looks up to Hailey. "Once he gets the hang of that, you're going to be laying down and having him put pressure on you. The next step is trying to get up while he is putting pressure on you, he needs to keep putting pressure on you and to lick you to get you to wake up. After he learns these first three steps, you practice by pretending to have a nightmare in a similar way to your actual nightmares so he knows what they look like."

Looking at Jay, she sees that he is overwhelmed with the information that she just gave him. "Wow, that's a lot," Jay finally breathes.

"It's going to be okay. We can train him together and I'm sure Will is going to want to help as much as he can."

"What else am I going to need to teach him?"

"That's going to depend on what you need. The tasks that service dogs perform are specific to the needs of their handler," Hailey pauses. "I know you don't like talking about it, but I need to know what your PTSD is."

"What do you mean?"

"What tasks we're going to teach Casper depends on what happens when you have a PTSD episode," Hailey pauses. "Some dogs are taught to retrieve medications for their handler. Do you take medicine for your PTSD?"

"No!" Jay answers quickly.

Sensing Jay was getting upset, Casper jumps up at the change of tone in Jay's voice; jumping up, Casper climbs next to Jay and licks at his face. Jay puts his hand on Casper's neck and starts petting him, trying to distract himself, looking anywhere but at his partner.

At the same time, Hailey places a hand on Jay's leg, to let him know that she's there and not leaving him, "Jay," Hailey softly speaks, not continuing until he looks at her. When green finally meets blue, she sees the fear, uncertainty, and something else she can't quite put her finger on. "Jay, if it helps you, I don't care if you take medication to help with your PTSD," at this point, Casper is now laying down, head and front paws on Jay's lap. "I don't think taking medication for that makes you crazy. If you did, I would still follow you blind. I'm not going anywhere, Jay. I'm not going to leave when things get hard. Do you understand me?"

Something in her speech makes Jay break, "Why are you doing this?" Jay asks her, voice cracking in the process. "I'm nothing but a burden."

Hearing this makes Hailey's heartbreak that Jay thinks so lowly of himself. "Jay Halstead, You. Are. Not. A. Burden," she tells him enunciating each word, hoping she can get through his thick skull. "You are a kind, caring man, with a big heart. You have been through more than anyone should have been through; you have your demons, but that never stops you from doing what you think is right. You served this country and you came home to continue to serve in another way. I am so proud of you and I am so grateful that I get to call you my partner and best friend," Hailey tells him while pulling him into a hug. Jay who is not used to this type of contact tries to pull away but Hailey is not having it. She holds on tightly until Jay sinks into her embrace.

After a while, Jay tries to get out of the embrace am Hailey lets him, once she sees that he has calmed down. "I'm sorry," Jay apologizes.

Confused Hailey asks, "For what? You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I yelled at you and I fought you," Jay tells her, ashamed of his actions.

"It's okay, Jay. This is a sensitive subject we were talking about."

"It's just… I used to take stuff for my PTSD, but it made me feel foggy, so I stopped."

"Okay. Jay, I want you to know that I would never judge you for any of this."

"I know. At least logically, my mind wants to believe that, but my brain is telling me something else."

"It's going to take time, and I will tell you until you believe me if that's what you need: I. Will. Never. Judge. You." Jay remains quiet. Sensing that he is close to shutting down, she decides that they should finish up for the night. "I think we've done enough for tonight. Do you want to catch the rest of the Hawks game before you two go home?"

"Maybe next time. I just want to get home. This was a lot."

"Okay," she agrees handing him a piece of paper. "Here, look this over later when you get a chance and feel up to it. It's a list of tasks that service dogs can be trained to do. Mark the ones you think Casper can help you with and add anything else you can think of that isn't on there." Jay just looks at the paper and gives her a small smile.

After grabbing Casper's bowls and putting his leash on, Jay reaches out to open the door. "Text me when you get home," she tells him, worried about him driving in his state of mind, "and you," she addresses Casper. "You take care of your dad."

"I will," Jay answers and Casper happily wags his tail at her.

* * *

After Jay and Casper leave, Hailey makes sure that they don't turn around before she makes a phone call to a number that is becoming more frequent in her phone.

"Hailey, is Jay okay?" Will answers and asks when he picks up on the second ring.

"Physically, yes, but emotionally… I don't know."

"What happened?"

Hailey goes on to explain what they were doing and how Jay had a somewhat mini breakdown.

"Okay," Will says after a moment of silence to comprehend what he was just told. "Our dad caused a lot of emotional damage to Jay growing up. If this were happening to a child now, I would say that it would be borderline emotional abuse. Our mom did our best to protect us, but she could only do so much. Jay's been told that he was a burden so much growing up that it's hard to change his mind, damn Halstead stubbornness. Dad has always been hard on Jay," Will continued. "He was so happy to have a second child, but then Jay was really early because of complications. The birth almost killed our mom and because he was born so early, he was small and weak. They didn't think he would survive. With the way our dad treated him, our mom would always try to compensate for it; combine that with Jay being the youngest, mom's baby, he became a _mama's boy_, another thing for our dad to go after him with."

"Is there anything we can do for him? Anything I can do for him?"

"Just be there for him. Don't leave him without telling him to his face. Hailey, I like you, but if you hurt my baby brother we're going to have problems."

"Will, I will never intentionally hurt or abandon him like that," Hailey promises the older brother.

"Then we shouldn't have a problem. What was that?" Will asks when he hears a text go through to Hailey's phone.

"That was Jay texting me that they got home."

"Okay, well I don't have to go to work until tomorrow afternoon, so I'll text him and see if he wants to meet for lunch."

"Okay. Thanks for helping with this whole service dog thing and reaching out to get Casper for him."

"No problem, I'm going to let you go," Will tells her, looking at the time.

* * *

In his apartment, Jay is still not feeling great about what happened at Hailey's so he decides just for tonight Casper can sleep in bed with him. Going to bed, Jay lays down with Casper curled into his side.


	6. Brother's Keeper Part I

The next morning, Jay wakes up still emotionally exhausted, even though he slept through the night without having any nightmares. Dragging himself out of bed, Jay takes a quick shower before taking Casper outside.

Once the two are back in his apartment, Jay puts on his coffee so it can brew while he is feeding Casper his breakfast and making sure he has fresh water. Once Casper is happily eating his breakfast, Jay puts a bagel in the toaster for himself. While he is waiting for his bagel to toast, Jay checks his e-mails. First checking his work e-mails, to find many reports from the different departments that he needed answers from for his cases and paperwork he still needs to fill out. He then checks his personal e-mail account to find a lot of spam, but one sticks out to him; it is from Liam, reminding Jay that he needs to take Casper to a vet next week for his next round of puppy shots, included in the e-mail is a list of what shots and rounds of each shot Casper had already received. Jay makes a mental note to ask Will what vet he takes Kohl to.

When his bagel pops up, Jay grabs it, looking at the time he sees that f he doesn't hurry he's going to be late. "Casper, come on. Go in your cage." Casper does as he as he is told, looking at Jay with sad eyes, "I know Buddy. I'll be back at lunch to let you out," Jay tells the dog as he puts his water bowl in the cage.

Jay grabs his bagel and leaves, getting to the district just in time.

* * *

With the home invasions case still open, Voight has the team tearing apart every lead and clue they have, in hopes to find an answer for the families. Everyone is hitting up their CIs, knowing that if they don't find something soon, there is the possibility that Voight will go rogue to solve the case.

Around ten Jay gets a text from his brother, _Hey, meet me for lunch? My shift doesn't start until two._

_Can't, _he answers back, _tough case and I'm using my lunch to go home and let Casper out. Drinks tonight instead?_

_I don't get off until ten._

_Come over after? We can watch the rest of the Hawks game?_

_I need to let Kohl out. My place instead? You can bring Casper._

_Okay, sounds good._

_Okay. Be safe._

Jay rolls his eyes at the last text his brother sends.

"I might have something," Kevin announces.

"What is it?" Voight asks.

"It's a bit of a stretch, but each family has had someone in their home that has a connection to a Seamus Glennson. And he has quite a long wrap sheet; starts at fourteen with petty crimes and escalates to more violent crime including rape and gang-related crimes by the time he's eighteen."

"Okay, let's bring him in. Atwater, take Halstead with you," Voight orders.

Hailey looks up when she hears Voight telling Kevin to bring Jay with him. Not that she doesn't trust Kevin to watch Jay's back, but at the moment, she doesn't trust that Jay is okay mentally. Sensing eyes on him, Jay looks over at Hailey, who gives him a look. Knowing what she is trying to communicate, he gives the signature Halstead smirk, telling her that he is fine, but his eyes say different which does not help Hailey's uneasiness.

Kevin and Jay leave to bring in Glennson.

* * *

Arriving at the address that they have, the two get ready to breach when they hear screaming coming from the home. Kicking down the door, Jay sees Glennson on top of a woman, beating her. Jay tackles Glennson while Kevin approaches the woman to check on her. After a struggle, Jay manages to cuff him.

They put him in the back of their car while waiting for the ambulance to arrive for the lady. When it is decided that the lady he was beating will be making a trip to Med, to be sure there are no internal injuries, Jay pulls rank telling Kevin to go with her as he wants to avoid running into Will, in case he was called in early, since the text exchange they've had that morning.

Taking the suspect back to the district, Jay throws Glennson into the interrogation room to let him sweat before he questions him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Will decides to find some research of his own since Jay is too busy to meet for lunch. His first question that he wants to find the answer to is the letter of recommendation for the service dog: How severe does one's PTSD have to be to qualify.

Since service dogs fall under the jurisdiction of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or more commonly known as the ADA, Will checks to see if they have a website where he can find the answers that he is looking for.

Unable to find anything on their website, Will finds a phone number to call.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A voice answers the other end of the line.

"Hi, I had a question about qualifications for PTSD service dogs."

"Okay, is there a specific concern you had in mind or is this about qualifying in general?"

"So, I was looking into organizations that pair veterans with service dogs and their website said that the potential handler would need a letter of recommendation to be considered to be paired with a dog. Now we decided to train the dog ourselves because I know my brother wouldn't have gone for the twenty-four-seven training for three weeks, along with the fact that at the time he was unaware that we were looking into this for him. My question is: How severe does someone's PTSD have to be to qualify for a service dog?"

"If you chose to owner-train, there is no letter of recommendation needed. As long as he has a disability he is able to have a service dog with him."

"Okay, does he need to show proof of his PTSD?"

"No. And people are not allowed to ask. There are only two questions that people are allowed to ask regarding a service dog. The first one is: is this a service dog required because of a disability? And the second one is: what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Anything else is illegal."

"Okay. Thank you for your help."

"My pleasure. If you or your brother have any more questions, feel free to call back."

Hanging up, Will looks at the time and realizes that he has been on the phone longer than he thought. He gathers his things hoping that he won't get caught up in the lunch-time traffic of Chicago. He makes a mental note to let Hailey know what he found out when he has a break.

* * *

At the end of the day when Voight finally allows them to leave, the officers of the unit all decide to hit Molly's for a couple of drinks.

"Are you going?" Hailey asks Jay, already having an idea of what his answer is.

"No. I need to let Casper out and he's been in his cage all day."

"I know you don't want to coop him up all day, but you need to spend time with people. Please don't close yourself off."

"I'm not. I come over to your place last night and I'm going to Will's once he gets off shift tonight. This is only until he's not in the cage anymore. Once that happens, I will go home to let him out and then I will join you guys at Molly's."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay, but I won't need anything," Jay answers as he heads to the stairs leading out of the bullpen, leaving Hailey in the bullpen by herself.

Just as she is about to leave herself, she gets a text from Will. _Found out earlier today that if Casper is being owner-trained by Jay, Jay does not need a letter of recommendation. As long as Jay has a disability, meaning his PTSD, he can have Casper with him as long as he is in-training or a fully-trained service dog._ Reading this text, Hailey feels like a weight is lifted off of her shoulders as that is one less thing that they have to worry about. She texts back a simple reply before heading to Molly's herself.

Arriving at his apartment, Jay takes Casper out for a nice walk to make up for leaving him in a cage all day, minus the few times he was able to sneak away to come home to let Casper out to relieve himself.

When the two make it back, Jay feeds Casper for the last time, before making something for himself. With his belly full, Casper takes his favorite spot by Jay's feet. Jay watches the Hawks game until it is time for the two of them to go to Will's.

* * *

Will buzzes the two of them in when Jay texts him to let him know that they are waiting outside.

"Hey, how was work?" he asks his younger brother as he walks in with his dog, trying to start a normal conversation.

"Busy. Barely had time to sneak away to let this guy out," Jay answers while scratching Casper's ear. "What about you?"

"It's Chicago. A lot of traumas came in," Will answers as he turns on the game.

"They were winning when we left."

"So, how has it been going with training him?"

"Okay. I think maybe by the end of next month or so, I can start with the first steps of some of the tasks."

"That's great," Will enthusiastically answers. "Do you know what tasks you are going to be training him for yet?" Will asks, casually trying to bring up the list that Hailey mentioned to him yesterday without his detective brother catching on.

"Yeah, Hailey mentioned yesterday that a good one for me would be using deep-pressure to wake me from nightmares. She told me how to do it and then gave me a list of different tasks that PTSD service dogs are trained to do. She said to look it over and to pick out the ones that would be useful to me and to add any that aren't on the list."

"Okay, so what other tasks did you decide on?"

"I haven't looked at it yet."

"Why not?"

"I," Jay sighs, "I got overwhelmed, so Hailey said to look at it later, and today was busy so I didn't get a chance."

"Do you want to look at it now?" Will notices Jay's hesitation. "It's okay. You're not alone," he comforts.

"Okay," Jay shakily answers, handing Will the list that Hailey gave him.

"Okay," Will states softly, "It looks like there are some repeats with different wording, but this is what she has: retrieving medication, waking the handler from a nightmare, searching the home before the handler to alleviate hypervigilance, tactile intervention when the handler experiences sensory overload, grounding during a flashback, alleviate anxiety/distress and provide psycho-emotional grounding, distract from an event, create space in crowded areas, lead to safety during a panic or anxiety attack, and getting help by alerting another person or activate an emergency button or alert system." Taking a breath Will asks, "What do you think?" Seeing that Jay looks like a deer caught in the headlights, he calls Casper. Casper then starts to bug Jay for attention, effectively snapping him out of it.

"Are you okay? Do you need a break?"

"No, no break."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think. It's just a lot."

"It is. Do you want to know which ones I think can help you?"

"Sure."

"Waking during nightmares, grounding during flashbacks, intervention with sensory overload, guiding during a dissociative episode, and getting help. Now, the last two I think would just be a precaution. You're my baby brother and the only family I have left. I'm not taking an unnecessary chance that something happens to you. Do these ones sound good to you?"

"Yeah," Jay whispers.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Will asks sensing a change in his brother's mood.

"This is a lot and I don't know why you're still here," he answers, voice not above a whisper.

"This is a lot, but you're not going to go through this alone," Will encourages Jay, the game forgotten. "You've got me, you have Hailey, and now you have Casper. I know I wasn't there for you in the past and I can't change that, but I can change what happens in the future. I'm going to be there for you. I'm not leaving you again. And Hailey, she cares about you so much. It was her that came to me to ask if there was anything she could do to help you. And don't even start me on Casper, you've had him for less than a week and look at how attached he is to you," Will points to the dog, who at some point climb on the couch to be next to Jay, and is now curled up next to him. Not knowing what to say, Jay just leans into his older brother, getting the same comfort from him that he did when they were kids. Will takes this as permission to pull Jay into a tight hug, "I love you, Jay," Will whispers the rare words that for the most part are known but remain unspoken between the two.

"I love you too, Will."

"It's getting late. You two should stay the night, I don't want you driving with everything we just talked about."

"We don't need to," Jay tries arguing.

"That wasn't a suggestion, Jay," Will made known, "I'll get you something you can sleep in. you're going to have to get up a bit earlier to get Casper home, fed and get yourself to work on time, but I'd rather know you're safe."

"Okay, thanks, Will."

"No, problem. If you need anything you can wake me."

"Oh, before I forget. I got an e-mail from Liam this morning reminding me that Casper is due for the next round of his puppy shots next week. Where do you take Kohl?"

"I'll send you that information tomorrow," Will tells him before he makes up the couch for Jay to sleep on. "Goodnight."

"Night."

* * *

Jay's sleep is anything but peaceful, tossing and turning, barely staying on the couch.

Casper wakes up when he hears his human whimper in his sleep. Casper tries to lick his face to wake him up but that doesn't work. Not knowing what to do now Casper goes to find the human with the red hair. Finding his way into the bedroom, Casper jumps his front paws up onto the bed. Not able to reach Will, Casper starts crying to try to wake him. After a few minutes, Will begins to stir.

"Casper?" Will sleepily murmurs, reaching out feeling the puppy's head. "What's wrong?" He asks also wondering why Jay hasn't tended to his dog. Before Will has time to try to figure out what is wrong, he hears a scream come from the living room where his baby brother is.

Jumping up, Will is immediately on his feet trying to get to Jay. When he makes his room into the living room, he sees that Jay is obviously caught in a nightmare. "Good boy, Casper," Will praises the dog who was on his heel.

Turning on the lamp to give some light, Will carefully attempts to wake Jay, knowing he might come out fighting. "Jay. Jay, wake up. You're dreaming, Jay." Jay shoots up, gasping for air. "Hey, you're okay. You're safe, in Chicago," Will reminds him while rubbing his back, noting that he has sweated through his shirt.

"Will," Jay asks confused, "what are you doing here?"

"It's my apartment."

"Did I wake you?" Jay asks before answering himself. "Of course I woke you. I'm sorry, you should go back to sleep. I'm sorry." Jay who is working himself up at this point finds Casper at his side trying to comfort his human.

"It's okay. I don't mind," Will tries to reassure his brother. "Do you want to take a shower? It might make you feel better."

"Okay," Jay answers shakily.

"Towels are in the hall closet."

Walking out of the bathroom five minutes later, Jay is surprised to see that Will was still up, "What are you still doing up? You should have gone back to bed."

"I wanted to make sure you were okay and that you didn't try to leave."

"I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's okay, Jay. You're my brother," Will senses Jay is done talking for now. "Come one, let's go back to bed." Will puts an arm around Jay he guides him to his room.

"What are you doing?" Jay asks when he realizes where Will is taking him.

"Come on, Jay. Like when we were kids," Will tells him, implying he intends to have Jay stay with his the rest of the night.

Embarrassed and feeling like a small child, Jay stumbles, "I, uh, I…"

"Jay, wait. I don't mind. Come on, just like when we were kids and you had nightmares," Will offers.

"We're not kids anymore though," Jay tells him, torn between being an adult and seeking the comfort that he knows he will get from his brother.

"You're still my little brother. And its either this or I sleep out in the living room with you," he informs his brother as he lifts the covers for Jay to climb in. Jay does, not caring that they are both in their thirties. Jay knows that with his brother, his demons won't haunt him, at least for tonight. Jay falls asleep peacefully, with the safety of his brother next to him and Casper on the floor next to him.


	7. Brother's Keeper Part II

Will wakes up later that morning to find that Jay had moved in his sleep to be pressed against him. Will reaches out carefully for his phone to turn off the alarm, not wanting to wake Jay when he looks so peaceful after the night he had.

Looking down at Jay, Will is reminded of all the times that Jay had climbed into bed with him when they were kids after he had a nightmare. Being the older brother, Will always felt like he was the protector. He had to protect Jay from their father and from their peers at school. Neither of them fit in at their school because of the social class and neighborhood that they came from, but Will always felt that Jay got the worse of it because of his size.

The Jay that came back from Afghanistan was a shell of who his brother was. He was still the kind, caring, compassionate person, but he now had a haunted look in his eye that always seemed to be there. He grew distant and refused to let Will in like he had growing up. Will always had a hunch that it was because of what Jay saw when he was over sees and not being able to be home when their mother died; that he was in some way protecting himself from being hurt again.

And then came Erin Lindsay. Seeing her brought back some of the old Jay; he no longer looked haunted twenty-four-seven, but he was still hiding many demons. When she left, he could see the change in his brother. Will always had a hunch that his brother had some type of abandonment issues and her leaving only solidified it. After she left, Will could see his brother spiraling; refusing to get or accept help, Will watched helplessly as his baby brother was in a self-destructive path. Will was caught between wanting to help and being pushed away.

Eventually, Jay began accept help from his new partner, Hailey Upton. Initially unsure of his new partner, something changed to make Jay open up to her. Slowly, Will began to see the old Jay making appearances. He started to make progress with his PTSD thanks to Hailey. Will had hoped that Jay would have opened up to him, but as long as he sees his brother getting the help he needs and starting to go back to his old-self, Will's not going to complain.

Looking at the time, Will decides he can let Jay sleep a little more before he has to wake up. He carefully gets out of bed, so not to wake him. "Casper," Will whispers. Hearing his name the puppy looks up. "Come on, lay with your dad," he tells the dog while helping him onto the bed where he curls up against Jay.

Will gets ready for the day before making breakfast burritos for the two of them. After wrapping up two for each of them he goes to wake Jay.

Walking into his bedroom, he sees both of them still asleep with Jay's hand on top of Casper's head. "Hey, Bud. You need to get up if you plan on taking Casper home before work."

"Okay," Jay mumbles half awake. "Wait how did he get up here?" Jay asks confused.

"I put him up there when I got out."

"Okay."

"Come on. I let you sleep in, so you can't lounge around."

"Okay, I'm up. I'm up. What time do you have to be at Med?"

"Not until ten. Come on I made breakfast burritos."

"Okay, I'm going to take Casper out real quick first," Jay lets Will know.

"Okay."

"Come on Casper," Jay calls, helping the dog off of the bed. Jay throws on his shoes and then puts on Casper's leash to take him out.

"Casper, let's go back in," he tells the dog once he goes, "we have to hurry today."

"Jay," Will calls when he walks back in with Casper. "So, there's a two week wait to get in new people-"

"I don't want to mess up his shots," Jay interrupts worried about Casper.

"I know. I'm going to call today and see if I can get you in next week."

"Okay, thanks. For, well for everything."

"I'm doing this because I'm your brother and I just want you to be okay."

"I love you too," Jay replies. "I need to get going if I want to get to work on time and feed Casper."

"Okay, I'll text you when I know. Be careful."

"Always."

* * *

Jay puts his breakfast in the cup holders as Casper was demanding some head rubs on the way home.

When they get home, Jay throws his food in the microwave to heat his breakfast while he is feeding Casper. Casper gulps down his food, not used to waiting so long to be fed. Jay is able to eat his first breakfast burrito at home before putting Casper in his cage so he can go to work.

Jay eats his second one on the way to work, hoping he won't be late. True to the Halstead luck, Jay hits the morning traffic that he normally manages to avoid.

Rushing into the bullpen when he gets to the district, the first thing he hears from his sergeant is, "You're late Halstead!"

"Sorry, Sarge," Jay apologizes. Not looking at the rest of his team.

Hailey gives Jay a look asking, _are you okay?_ He nods his head, body language saying that he will explain later.

"Halstead, since you were late, you can go downtown and track down the surveillance footage. Take Hailey with you, maybe she can keep you in line."

The two walk to his truck in silence. "So, is everything okay?" Hailey asks when they are in the privacy of his truck.

"Yeah, sorry Voight made you come with me," Jay apologizes, feeling guilty that she has to tag along on the boring trip.

"Hey, don't apologize," she gently reminds him. "How's Casper?" She tries to change the subject.

"He's good," Jay happily answers. "I was actually late because I had to take him home and feed him then I hit the morning traffic. We crashed at Will's last night."

"How was that? Have a good time?"

"It was okay," Jay hesitates.

"Did something happen?"

"Will and I went over your list. It was late so he made me stay the night and I had a nightmare. He had to wake me. He's also going to try to get Casper in next week for his next round of shots."

"Hey, you know Will's not going to judge you, right?"

"I know. It's just embarrassing. I shouldn't be having these nightmares and my brother shouldn't have to be waking me."

Jay pulls into the center before Hailey can answer. They spent ten minutes tracking down the person who can get them the footage before they are able to go back to the district.

On the drive back Jay gets a call on his personal cell. Hailey answers it and puts it on speaker after seeing that it is Will.

"Hey, Will," Jay greets.

"Hey, you busy?"

"Not really. We're driving back to the district."

"We?"

"Hailey's with me."

"Oh, hi Hailey."

"Hey Will."

"So what did you call for?" Jay asks getting them back on track.

"So, I called the vet and I was able to sweet talk them into seeing Casper next week. His appointment is at five o'clock on Tuesday. That was the latest that they will give an appointment to a new dog."

"Okay, thanks, Will. I owe you."

"You don't owe me. I'll text you the address." Will tells him before he hangs up.

"How are you going to explain leaving to Voight?" Hailey questions.

"Cross that bridge when it comes to it."

"Maybe you should tell him. It might make your life easier."

"Or he could make my life harder."

They arrive back at the district before Jay can say anything else. The two go in to go over the footage before Voight can get on Jay's case again.


	8. The Vet

After the rough night at Will's, the rest of Jay's week seemed to go uphill. Their case was relatively easy and they only reason their elite unit had it was because the victims were high profile in the Chicago area. Voight seeing the dedicated, hard work that his team was putting into the case, let them leave at a somewhat reasonable time.

With Casper in the cage all day, Jay declined going to Molly's with his colleagues, not wanting to leave him by himself or in the cage any longer than necessary. Jay also wanted to continue the bonding process with Casper, as both Hailey and Will told him that it is important for the two of them to bond for Casper to become a successful service dog.

Some days it was just Jay and Casper and other nights Hailey would come over to Jay's place to hang out with them or he would take Casper to her place if Vanessa was going to be out late. A new norm has also started since his night at Will's; now every night a phone call takes place between the two brothers unless Will gets caught up in an emergency in the ED.

Jay has learned how to balance training Casper and letting him be a puppy. As far as training goes, for now, Jay is sticking to the basic command that all dogs can be taught, as he heard that training them for the tasks that they are to perform as service dogs should wait until they are eight months old.

With the vet appointment coming up, he wonders if he should follow Hailey's advice and at least tell Voight about Casper. But at the same time, he has been having trouble telling where he stands with Voight. "What do you think, Buddy? Should I tell my boss about you?" Jay asks the puppy. Casper's response is to leave Jay, only to come back a moment later with his leash in his mouth. "You want to go for a walk?" Jay asks. Casper barks happily while running in circles in front of Jay, showing that he is still just a puppy at heart and not always training to behave like a service dog. "Okay, come here," Jay orders as he clips the leash onto the excited pup's collar.

Making sure he has bags for Casper, his phone and his keys to get back in, Jay and Casper head out into the Chicago night. Jay uses walks as an opportunity to teach Casper to heel, which is easier said than done. They walk until Jay notices Casper starting to slow down, "Come on, boy. Let's go back." Casper makes it halfway before he refuses to walk anymore, forcing Jay to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way home.

When Jay places Casper down once back in their apartment, Casper goes to his water dish to drink before collapsing on the nest of blankets that Jay has started keeping in his living room for Casper to sleep on.

Jay lets Casper lay there until he goes to bed, calling Casper to go in his cage.

* * *

Tuesday arrives quicker than Jay would like, still keeping Casper a secret from his team, sans Hailey and Kim, who found out by accident, Jay is hoping Voight won't give him trouble about leaving early.

Jay gets up and starts his new morning routine of taking a shower before letting Casper out and coming back in to feed both of them. "I'm going to be home a bit early today, Buddy, but you're not going to be happy," he tells the dog as he puts him in the cage so he can go to work.

Jay arrives to work early, hoping to talk to Voight before the rest of the team gets in. Entering the bullpen, Jay finds that he is the first to arrive with the exception of Voight. "Sarge do you have a second?" Jay asks while knocking on the door to his office. Voight nods his head and Jay takes that as a silent indication to enter his office.

"What is it, Halstead?" Voight gruffly asks.

"I have something that I need to take care of tonight. I need to be there at five; I can come in early tomorrow to make up the time."

"What do you need to do?"

"That's personal."

"Are you going off books for a case?"

"No."

"Are you in trouble?"

"No."

"Remember: You need to tell me the truth so I can lie for you."

"I'm not lying. Hailey knows what's going on."

"Okay," Voight answers before going back to the paperwork on his desk, ending the conversation.

Jay heads back to his desk before Voight can change his mind. When he gets to his desk Jay sees that the only one who is missing is Ruzek.

Hailey sees Jay coming out of Voight's office and silently asks, "How did it go?" Jay nods his head, indicating that he is able to leave early.

* * *

Having finished their case the previous day, Voight has the team filling out the paperwork so they don't get on the higher up's radar for the files of a high profile case.

Close to lunch, Hailey decides since it is not a busy day, she would make a lunch run for the team. After taking everyone's orders and collecting the money Hailey grabs her jacket to leave. "Jay, wanna go for a ride?"

"I need to…" Jay drifts off hoping that Hailey would get the idea that he needs to let Casper out.

"No, problem. We can do that on the way." After hearing this, Jay grabs his jacket to follow Hailey out to her car.

"So, how'd it go with Voight?" Hailey asks once they are in her car.

"I can leave early. I mean he questioned my motives a lot, but he said _okay_," Jay answers on the way to his place to let Casper out.

Arriving at his apartment building, Hailey asks, "Do you want me to wait for you or pick you back up on my way back to the district?" Hailey asks.

Jay takes a moment to answer, as much as he wants to stay with Casper for a while, he knows his building is out of the way of where Hailey is picking up lunch. "Just wait, it won't take long," he tells Hailey, already halfway out of the car.

Five minutes later, Hailey spots Jay outside of his building with Casper on his leash. She laughs to herself as she sees the small puppy making a poor attempt to take Jay for a walk. Once Casper is done, she sees Jay take him back inside before reappearing a few minutes later.

"Was he good?" Hailey asks when he gets back into the passenger seat of her car.

"Yeah, he's a good dog," Jay smiles.

"Yeah, sometimes I forget that he's only a puppy with how good he is," Hailey responded as they pulled into the take out place.

* * *

Back at the district, Hailey hands out the food to everyone once they get back.

The rest of the afternoon, the team works on updating their CI files, hoping that a case doesn't come in. Jay keeps a close eye on the clock as he does not want to mess up with the vet.

At a quarter after four, Jay leaves wanting to pick up Casper and get to the vet a little early in case he has to fill out some paperwork.

When Jay gets home and lets Casper out of his cage, the puppy is very excited to see him. "Come on, Casper. We need to go." Jay takes Casper out before putting him in his truck and driving to the vet with the directions that Will gave him.

Arriving at the vet's, it is like Casper senses where he is as he starts to shake and cry. "I'm sorry," Jay apologizes to the dog. Casper doesn't want to get out of his truck, forcing Jay to carry the frightened dog into the building.

"How can I help you?" A lady behind the counter asks.

"Um, he has an appointment at five for his next round of puppy shots," Jay answers while gesturing to Casper, who is still in Jay's arms.

"Okay, and his name?"

"Casper."

"Last name?"

"Halstead."

"Okay, and he's new?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I just need you to fill out these forms and we can get Casper into the system," She tells Jay as she hands him a clipboard.

Jay fills out the forms, not realizing how much information there is needed for the dogs. Once he finishes, Jay takes the clipboard back to the lady before dragging Casper back to the waiting area as he tries to get outside. Tired of Casper trying to leave, Jay picks up the scared puppy.

"Casper Halstead," a tech assistant calls out.

Jay stands up and carries Casper as he follows the tech assistant into the examine room. "I'm going to take him to the back to weigh him," she tells Jay as she reaches for Casper's leash.

Although scared, the young puppy knows that he is supposed to stay by Jay, he is also scared to go with this strange lady. Seeing that his dog isn't moving, Jay encourages Casper to go with her, "Go on Casper. It's okay," he tells the dog as he motions for the dog to go at the same time. Seeing his owner showing him that it is okay, he lets the strange lady lead him to a different room that Jay is not following them too.

She leads him to another room where he has to step on to a metal contraption before she finally takes him back to Jay. When Casper sees Jay he hurries over to him.

"The vet will be in shortly," she informs Jay before leaving.

Jay picks up the scared dog while they wait for the vet.

The vet appears after five minutes, introducing himself, "Hi, I'm Dr. Richardson."

"Hi," Jay replies, "this is Casper," Jay indicates to the dog in his arms.

"Hi, Casper," Dr. Richardson speaks to the puppy as he puts his hand out in front of the dog for him to sniff. "So, Mr. Hals-"

"Detective," Jay interrupts.

"Sorry. Detective Halstead, it looks like Casper is a bit underweight. Is he eating alright?"

"Yeah, the guy I got him from said that he was the runt of the litter, but that he was healthy now," Jay answers concerned.

"Okay. He weighs almost twenty pounds. A Lab his age should be between twenty-four and twenty-eight pounds."

"Okay. Is there something that I can do to help him?"

"No, he should be able to catch up as he grows, but he'll probably always be on the smaller side."

"Okay, we can handle that," Jay says relieved. "Can't we Casper?" he asks the dog.

"Let's get him on the table so I can take a look at him," Dr. Richardson states, indicating he wants Jay to put Casper down. Jay puts Casper on the table and holds on to his collar so he doesn't try to jump off.

After examining Casper, Dr. Richardson turns his attention to Jay, "Everything looks good. Now, when the appointment was made, it was mentioned that he needs his next round of shots?"

"Yeah, he needs the third of DHLPPC, and the first of Bordetella, Giardia, and Lyme," Jay reads off of the paper he printed off from his e-mail.

"Okay, a tech assistant will be in in a moment to give the shots. Do you have any other questions?"

"What age should I get him neutered?"

"With a Lab, I usually recommend two years or when they stop growing."

"Okay. I'm training him to be a service dog, would waiting that long interfere with that?"

"No. It may actually be better behavior-wise. They only reason you should have him fixed before then is if he starts acting inappropriately around other dogs."

"Okay, thanks," Jay says as the vet opens the door for the tech assistant to come in.

"If you don't have any more questions," the vet motions to the door.

"No, I'm good," Jay replies before Dr. Richardson leaves the examine room.

Jay holds Casper still as he is given the four shots, "I'm sorry, boy," Jay whispers to the puppy.

"All done," the tech announces.

Jay goes to the front desk to pay before taking Casper outside where the dog is now happy that they are leaving. "C'mon, let's go home. I think you earned some extra treats tonight," Jay tells Casper.

* * *

Arriving at his apartment, Jay sees that Hailey is waiting in her car for them. "How did it go?" Hailey asks when she gets out of her car after seeing the two of them.

"It was good," Jay answers as they walking into the apartment building. "He was scared, but the appointment went well. He's a bit underweight and he's probably always going to be small, but he's healthy."

"That's good. Is it going to bother you?" Hailey asks. "That he's going to be small?" Hailey clarifies when she sees Jay's confused look.

"No. I just want him to be healthy," Jay tells her as he gives Casper his food.

The two partners watch the sports highlights from the afternoon games before Casper joins them, settling at Jay's feet, once finishing his food. Hailey leaves once reruns of the highlights start playing, leaving the two to relax after the trip to the vet.


	9. Casper Meets the Team

Five months have passed and Casper is now eight months old, the age where Jay can finally start training him for the tasks he should perform as a service dog.

Although difficult, Jay has managed to keep Casper a secret from the rest of his team. But with the annual first responder picnic coming up, Jay figures it is the perfect time for him to introduce Casper to the rest of the team. Jay knows that his team has been suspicious as to why he has been declining going to Molly's, but he was not ready for them to know that he has gotten a dog until now.

With Casper now eight months old, Jay is now letting him out of the cage for longer periods of time since he is no longer teething. He is still on the smaller side of forty-five pounds, but is growing enough that Jay's not worried about it. He is no longer going to the vet every couple of weeks to receive his puppy shots. Jay has kept a strict schedule of training him, so he would be ready to start learning the tasks of being a PTSD service dog for Jay's needs.

"You're going to meet the rest of my team soon," he tells the dog. "Do you think I did the right thing by waiting so long?" He asks. Casper just stares at him with his head cocked to the side. "I know," Jay answers, "You want to go on your walk." Hearing the work walk, Casper gets excited, running back and forth between the door and Jay.

Laughing at Casper's antics, Jay gets up to grab what he needs to take Casper on his walk. Clipping on his leash, Jay leads Casper into the Chicago night.

* * *

The following Saturday, Jay packs Casper into his truck so they can head to the park where the picnic is. When they arrive at the park, Hailey walks up to his truck greeting the two, "You ready for them to meet him?" she asks Jay.

"I've had him for five months now," is Jay's only answer as he gets Casper out of his truck. As Casper gets out, Hailey noticed that he doesn't have the leash wrap on Casper's leash.

"Jay, his leash wrap?" she questions her partner.

"Not ready for them to know that yet," he answers. "Besides, we don't know if he's going to work as one."

"Yes, but he needs to learn to not be distracted by people petting him," she argues.

"And he needs to be a puppy too. Hailey, he's eight months, not eight years."

"Jay, you've read what I have. He needs to learn from an early age to not get distracted from people petting him."

"I know, but they'll see what it says and find out."

"Jay…"

"This is the first time I've taken it off."

"Okay, but you know they won't judge you."

"One thing at a time, Hailey."

Hailey and Jay start walking into the park where the rest of their team is, "So," Hailey starts, "when are you going to start teaching him the tasks?"

"Sometime this week. Do you want to come over when I do? I mean you're the one who knows what to do."

"Okay, let me know when you are going to start," Hailey answers as they walk up to the rest of the team.

"Hey, who's this?" Vanessa asks when she sees Casper walking up at Jay's side.

At the same time, Adam asks, "When did you get a dog?"

"He's gotten so big," Kim comments. "How old is he now?"

"Um, this is Casper, about five months ago and he's eight months," Jay tries to answer the questions in the order he was asked.

"Casper? Like the ghost?" Adam asks before he realizes what Kim said. "Wait, you knew Kim? And you didn't say anything?"

"I found out by accident," Kim tells him. "It wasn't my news to share," she adds thinking of how short Jay got when she found out about Casper.

"He had the name when I got him," Jay informs Adam. "He was three months old and was already used to his name, I wasn't going to change it and confuse him."

"So what made you get a dog?" Adam asks.

"Will thought it would be good for me to have company; and, he knew someone who was having a hard time finding a home for Casper since he was the runt of the litter."

"So this is why you kept disappearing during the day?" Kevin asks, finally joining the conversation.

"Yeah, he needs to be let out during the day."

"Halstead," Voight voices, "is this why you had to leave early some days?"

"Um, yes, Sarge. I needed to take him in for his puppy shots," Jay answers nervously.

"If you told me that was the reason you needed to leave early to begin with, I wouldn't have given you such a hard time," Voight answers, surprising Jay. Hailey gives Jay a knowing look at this statement.

"I still don't understand what made you get a dog, let alone a puppy, with our hours," Adam states.

"Adam, stop," Hailey orders her ex-boyfriend before he can get Jay worked up. "Casper has been good for Jay. You can't tell me that you haven't noticed a positive change in him in the past five months."

"Well, he never comes to Molly's anymore," Adam pointed out to her.

"Sorry, man," Jay apologizes. "He's in a cage most of the day. I don't want to keep him in there longer than I have to."

"That only proves my point about getting a dog with our hours," Adam defends.

Although loving the attention that he is getting from his human's team, Casper can sense that Jay is getting agitated by the man talking to him. Abandoning the attention he is receiving, Casper goes back over to Jay, licking his hand to get his attention.

Noticing that Casper is licking his hand, Jay pulls it away before bending down to his level. Focusing only on Casper, Jay calms down, ignoring the rest of the world.

* * *

After the small interrogation by Adam, the rest of the picnic is a peaceful event. The police department have their softball game versus the fire department, winning by two. They then play the staff from Chicago Med's emergency department, surprisingly losing by three runs.

With all of the first responders of Chicago together in one place, it is a surprisingly calm event. Darren Ritter of Firehouse 51 brought his dog, Tuesday, and Will brought Kohl with him. Casper saw the other dogs, but could sense that Jay was getting agitated anytime Adam came near him, so he stayed close by Jay.

Jay wanting Casper to get some exercise, pulled out the ball that he had brought for Casper and started a game of fetch for the puppy.

Hailey, who had taken a seat with the ladies of the intelligence unit, second watch of Firehouse 51, and the day shift of the emergency department of Chicago Med, was discreetly keeping an eye on the two. Since getting Casper it has been like Jay is a whole different person.

"Hey, Hailey. Are you still with us?" Stella Kidd asks, pulling Hailey's attention back to the group.

"Yeah," Hailey answers, looking back to the group. Once she is sure they are no longer paying attention to her, she goes back to her thoughts of Casper and Jay. The Jay she met when she first joined intelligence was closed off and then silently struggling through his PTSD by himself. After some time he was able to work through some of his demons, but it seems that having Casper has really helped, even if they haven't started training him for the tasks that are specific to Jay.

Hailey's not the only one to notice a change in the detective and former Army Ranger. Ethan Choi walks up to Will, wanting to see how getting the dog has helped Jay. "Jay looks happier," he comments.

"Yeah," Will answers. "I don't know what it is about that dog, but Jay's changed. Since he got him, I've been seeing more and more of my brother before he went to war."

"There's something magic about how an animal can help emotionally," Ethan states.

"And I'm pretty sure that, that dog adores my brother," Will laughs. "The way he gets when Jay gets home. It's like he hasn't seen him in years; no matter how long it's been. They could be apart for five minutes or five hours and that dog will act in exactly the same way. And Jay is just as happy to see him."

"Maybe they saved each other," Ethan suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Will muses. "Excuse me," he pardons himself as he makes his way over to Casper and Jay with his own dog.

The next time Hailey glances over at her partner, she sees that he's not alone and is now talking with his brother. Seeing that she's been caught by the older Halstead brother, she gives a small smile in his direction which he returns before she turns away. The meaning of the smile deeper than what an outsider would think. The smile meaning: We did good, Jay's going to be okay, and thank you for having his back and being someone he can lean and depend on. Hailey knows that Jay can depend and lean on his brother, who will have his back, even if he doesn't realize it yet. And Will knows that Hailey will watch out for his baby brother, both off-duty and on, even if they are not officially partners at the moment.

* * *

**A/N: So I don't normally do these, but I wanted to ask what you all think so far and if you would want a chapter solely from Casper's view?**


	10. A Rocky Start

"Hey, Hailey," Jay greets when he opens up the door the following night, Casper right behind him.

"Hey," she greets her partner as he lets her in. "Hi, Casper. Are you being a good boy for your dad?" The happy puppy wags his tail greeting his friend.

"So, how are we doing this?" Jay asks, referring to training Casper the tasks he needs to learn.

"We are going to do this in pieces," Hailey tells him. "So, I know we're training him to wake you, but is there anything else from the list that you want to train him for?"

"Yeah, Will and I decided on: grounding during a flashback, intervention with sensory overload, guiding during a dissociative episode, and getting help. Will said that the last two were just a precaution."

"Okay. We are going to do one task at a time. I think we should focus on waking you up first. Does that sound okay to you?" Hailey asks, wanting Jay to be in charge of the process of training Casper the tasks.

"Yeah, that's probably going to be the most helpful one."

"Okay, the first step is to get Casper to get on your lap while you're sitting down. So sit on the couch."

Jay does as he is told, watching to see what Hailey does next. Hailey then grabs the bag of training treats that Jay keeps in the cabinet that he converted for all of Casper's things. "Casper," she calls. The puppy looks over to her, "Get on your dad," she tells him, seeing that she has his attention. Hailey shows him the treat and moves it over Jay to get Casper to climb on his lap.

"So this looks like it's a two-person job?" Jay comments.

"It probably is," Hailey answers after a moment.

"Are you sure you're okay with helping me train him?" Jay asks, not wanting to burden his partner.

"I'm sure," Hailey answers him. "Hey, next time we do this, we should see if your brother is free. I'm sure he would want to be a part of this process," she adds as an afterthought.

"I'm sure he has better things to do than help train a dog for his broken brother," Jay rebuttals with a scornful laugh.

Casper, who hears the change in Jay's tone, starts to push his head into Jay's chest causing him to absent-mindedly rub his head.

Hating to hear her partner refer to himself as such, Hailey is careful to how she responds, not wanting Jay to twist her words, "Jay," she sighs, "You're not broken. I don't think that and I _know _Will doesn't think that of you."

"You don't know what he's thinking," Jay answers despondent.

"Okay," Hailey answers, knowing Jay is being stubborn. "But, I know how he feels about you. We talk and you know what he told me?"

"What?" Jay humors her.

"He told me that growing up it was his job to protect you, that he thinks he's failed at being an older brother as you two got older. He regrets leaving you when you needed him and if he could change it, he would. He told me that he and I would have problems if I ever hurt his little brother," she list, hoping Jay will believe her. "He cares about you and he just wants you to be okay– we both do. He sees how much having Casper has been impacting you for the better."

Seeing that he is just going to shut down on her, she changes the subject, "Do you want to try this again?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Okay, Casper, come here," she calls for the dog. Casper looks at her but doesn't move, giving her a look that says: I'm not leaving my human.

"Casper, go to Hailey," Jay orders the dog, gently pushing him off of him and onto the floor, seeing that he isn't listening to her. Casper, now on the floor, looks at Jay. "I'm okay," he tells the dog as if reading his mind before he goes over to Hailey.

Hailey repeats the commands that she ordered Casper before they got sidetracked. They repeat this step multiple times; each time they have trouble getting Casper off of Jay, as he senses something off with his human.

The two stop decide to stop when they realize Casper is not going to leave Jay easily at the moment, even if it is only across the room. Casper settles on Jay's lap, believing he is small enough to be a lap dog, wanting to comfort his human.

During this time, Hailey can see how much Casper cares for Jay, in his own dog-like way. "Jay, I'm going to head home," she tells him.

"You don't have to go," Jay responds.

"It's getting late and I think someone wants you to themself right now," Hailey answers, referring to Casper.

"Okay, text me when you get home?" Jay asks his partner.

"I will," she answers while gathering her things.

"See you tomorrow," Jay says as she walks out of his apartment leaving him alone with Casper.

* * *

Arriving at her own home, Hailey walks in to find Vanessa in the living room watching an old television show. "Hey, how was Jay's?" she asks.

"Good, trying to teach Casper some new tricks."

"Cool."

Hailey excuses herself so she can call Will from her room. The first thing Hailey does is text Jay so he doesn't send out a search party. She then calls Will, hoping he is not busy. He answers on the third ring, "Hey, what's up?"

"We starting the process of training Casper the first task tonight," Hailey tells him.

"How did that go?"

"It started good and then we hit a bump."

"What happened?"

"I mentioned that the next time we were going to work with Casper we should see if you were free too. You know, so you can also help with the process."

"Okay?" Will questions, not following where this is going.

"Would you want to be involved in this process?" she answers with her own question.

"Hailey, what kind of question is that? He's my brother. Of course."

"You need to let Jay know somehow," Hailey tells him.

"What happened?" Will asks, starting to get a picture of what happened.

"When I brought it up, Jay implied that you had better things to do. He said something along the lines of better things to do than help train a dog because he's broken."

Hearing this, Will is deeply saddened that his brother referred to himself as broken, "I'll talk with him," Will promises. "I'm off tomorrow; I'll get him and Casper to come over for dinner tomorrow."

"Thanks, Will."

"Not even a question, he's my brother. How did it go before that happened?"

"We did it once and after that Casper wasn't willing to leave Jay's side," Hailey manages a small laugh.

"They are quite attached to each other," Will comments. "Hey, Jay is calling me. I got to go."

"Okay. Bye." Hailey hangs up the phone, glad that Will is in the loop, even if Jay finds out and gets mad at her for a while. Hailey goes back out to the living room to join Vanessa, hoping her hard-headed partner will listen to his brother.


	11. A Talk Between Brothers

The next day, the two detectives are in Jay's car on the way to a location that Voight texted them. "So, do you want to give training Casper another go tonight?" Hailey asks Jay, trying to start a conversation, while also not wanting to tip Jay off about calling his brother.

"Can't tonight," he tells her. "Will wants me and Casper to come over for dinner and to catch the game. Something about not hanging out in a while."

"That's good," Hailey tells him.

"You're not mad?" Jay asks unsure.

"No," Hailey answers in disbelief. "Why would I be?"

"Because… you're using your free time to help and…" Jay trails off.

"Hey, I think it's important that you're spending time with your brother. We can work on training Casper another day. Just let me know what day works for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Hailey promises. "Hey, I think this is it," Hailey changes the subject.

Looking over to where Hailey pointed out, Jay sees two patrol cars with their lights still flashing and a large crowd gathering around. They look at each other before getting out of the car, going over to the patrol officers to find out what they know so far.

* * *

"This isn't going anywhere," Jay complains when he and Hailey are in his car on the way back to the district.

"I know, but there has to be something that we're missing," Hailey adds.

"Do you think the others got anything?"

"I hope so."

"I need to let Casper out. Do you mind stopping real quick?"

"Yeah, no problem," Hailey answers as Jay turn in the direction of his neighborhood.

Parking outside of his building, Jay gets out of his truck while Hailey waits for him. Looking around, she sees Jay walking out of the building with the growing puppy happily walking with him. After doing what he needed to, Jay takes the dog back inside reappearing to the truck minutes later.

"Casper looked happy," Hailey comments.

"He's a happy dog," Jay replies, getting into the driver's seat. "I just feel bad about leaving him so much."

"It's part of the job, our hours, but Casper loves you. I can see it."

Jay remains quiet the rest of the ride and Hailey doesn't push him, knowing he will come to her when he is ready.

* * *

"Molly's anyone?" Kevin asks as they finish for the day.

While the rest of the unit agrees, Jay answers, "I have plans with Will."

"He can come too," Adam adds, not getting what he is saying.

"I think Jay wants to spend time with his brother without everyone else around," Hailey intervenes. Jay gives a small smile towards Hailey as a thanks.

Seeing that Jay isn't going to change his mind, Adam shrugs his shoulders as he shuts down his computer before he heads out for the day. The rest of the unit follows his lead one by one, leaving Hailey and Jay alone in the bullpen. "Text me if you need anything," Hailey reminds him before leaving herself.

Jay follows her out, going to his own truck to head home and get Casper before going to his brother's.

Jay hits surprisingly little traffic on the way home. Letting Casper out of his cage, Jay grabs what he needs for Casper to take to Will's. Putting Casper's things in his truck, Jay makes Casper go before driving to his brother's apartment building.

Casper, up to his usual car antics, makes Jay pet him the whole drive.

Jay texts Will when they arrive, so he can buzz them up. Walking into his brother's apartment, Jay makes himself at home, filling Casper's water and food dishes, as he greets Will.

"How you two doing?" Will asks, hoping Jay will tell him for himself about what had happened last night.

"We're good," Jay answers.

Seeing that Jay is answering with the least amount of words possible, he tries a different approach, "So, Hailey was telling me before that you can start training service dogs their tasks when they reach eight months. Casper has to be around there soon. When are you going to start training Casper?"

"Um, Hailey came over last night and we started going over the process of what to do," Jay answers carefully.

"Cool. Let me know when the next time you have a training session on the tasks," Will tries to open that can of worms.

"Why?" Jay asks confused.

"Because I want to be part of this process with you," Will tells him. "That is, if you want me to," he adds, wanting the decision to be up to Jay, but at the same time, hoping that his brother won't push him away.

"Why would you want to? Don't you have better things to do?" Jay asks, not believing that Hailey was right, that, or his brother isn't lying to him.

"Because you're my brother. What do you think I have is so important that I don't have time for you, during something so important?" Will questions him in disbelief.

"I don't know," Jay answers. "Anything… I mean we don't even know if this is going to work. It could all just be a waste of time. This might not be able to fix me, like you planned."

Even though Hailey had given him a heads up about what had transpired during their first training session, he still doesn't believe this is what is running through his baby brother's mind. "What do you mean 'fix you like I planned'?"

"Isn't that why you had me get Casper?" Jay asks confused, "To fix my PTSD?"

Sighing, Will tries to think of a response that Jay won't twist. "No. I wanted you to get Casper because I didn't want you to be alone. I don't care that you have PTSD, I just hate seeing you hurt– physically, mentally, emotionally. You're right, we don't know if this is going to work, but since you got him, I've seen the Jay Halstead I knew before he went to fight a war. I don't care if it doesn't work, you are still my brother," Will promises, pulling Jay into a hug and resting his head on top of his brother's.

Will gets lost in thought, thinking about how he wishes their mom was still here. She would know what to do and what to say- more importantly, Jay had always listened to her. She could make anything and everything better, while at times Will felt like he only made things worse for his brother.

"Thanks," Jay whispers bringing Will out of his internal turmoil.

"For what?" Will asks confused.

"For being you. For being my brother," Jay answers resting his head on Will.

"I think we need to reheat the pizza," Will tries to lighten the mood.

"I'm not hungry," Jay tells him.

"Do you feel sick?" Will asks concerned.

"No, just not hungry," Jay answers, still thinking about the conversation he just had with his brother.

"Try to eat one piece," Will pushes.

* * *

"Are you sure you're good to drive?" Will asks three hours later when Jay and Casper are getting ready to leave after watching the game and Will managing to get Jay to eat two and a half pieces,

"I'm fine."

"You know I don't mind you guys staying."

"We can't. I cut it too close getting to work last time," Jay insists.

"Okay," Will gives in, "But text me if you need anything. I mean it."

Jay only nods in acknowledgment before leading Casper out of Will's apartment.

Once the door shuts behind him, Will looks over to Kohl, "Do you think I talked some sense into him?" He asks the dog. Kohl just cocks his head to the side. "I hope so too."


	12. Progress

Two weeks have passed since Hailey and Jay have started with Casper's training. After their rocky start, they settled on a schedule of every other day. Hailey and Jay decided that this would be often enough that Casper would still have thorough training and still allow him to be a puppy. Hailey also thought this would be a good schedule to give Jay a break mentally between training days, though Jay doesn't realize that Hailey put his mental health into consideration.

So far Will's schedule has not matched with Casper's training schedule, meaning it has only been the two partners working with the yellow lab. Casper, being the smart pup that he is, has caught on fairly fast with the first step that he is being taught.

"Hey, Jay," Hailey calls as they are getting ready to start their next training session with Casper, "I think he will be ready for the next step soon."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think we can start on that as soon as he's on top of you by command without a treat."

"What is the next step for him anyway?" Jay asks, not remembering from the first time that they talked about it.

"Right now we want him to climb up on you while you are sitting. The next part is, instead of you sitting, you will be laying down and Casper will be putting pressure on you," Hailey explains patiently, realizing that Jay probably blocked most of that night out.

"Do you think this will actually work?" Jay asks.

Before Hailey can answer him there is a knock at the door. Jay looks to Hailey, silently questioning if she knows who it is. Before either one can say anything there is another knock along with a familiar voice on the other side of the door, "Jay open up, I know you're home. It's me."

Going over to open the door Jay asks, "What are you doing? You have a key."

"I didn't want to get shot," Will deadpans.

"I wouldn't have shot you," Jay argues.

"You wouldn't shoot if you heard your door open and you didn't know who it was?" Will continues.

"Only if I didn't recognize who it was?" Jay answers. "What are you doing here?" Jay asks.

"Isn't today one of Casper's training days?"

"Yes, but…"

"No 'buts'," Will orders. "I told you I want to be a part of this."

"I just thought that-"

"I will tell you as much as you need to hear it. Understand?" Jay nods unconvincingly before Will continues, "So are you going to show me how this is done?"

"Of course," Hailey answers before Jay can overthink anything. "Jay go sit down." Jay goes over to the couch with Casper following him. Looking back over to the older Halstead brother, Hailey informs him, "So we're almost done with this phase, but the next one is pretty similar," she says as she grabs more of the training treats off the counter. "With this phase, we are getting Casper to lay on top of Jay while he is sitting down."

"So how are we doing that?" Will asks.

"Like this," Hailey answers as she calls the pup to her side. "Casper get on your dad. Get on Jay," she orders as she shows him the treat. Casper quickly jumps on the couch to get to Jay, laying across his lap. Both Jay and Hailey praise Casper for doing what he was told. He also got his training g treat from Hailey.

"Okay. I think I got it. How did you get him to do that when you first started?"

"I would guide him with the treat," Hailey answers. "Held it over Jay until Casper was on top of him," Hailey explains further when Will looks confused. "Do you want to try?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah. Do I need to call the dog over?" Will asks not sure how to get Casper away from Jay.

"Yeah, just call him and tell him to stay until you're ready," Hailey answer, wanting to let Will do this on his own so Jay can see that Will is serious about being a part of Casper's training.

Will nods in understanding before calling for the dog, "Casper, come here boy." Casper jumps down and walks over to Will. "Now stay."

"Will, you need the training treat," Hailey tells him as she hands Will the small treat.

"Thanks, Hailey," Will thanks when he realized that he didn't have the treat. "Casper get on Jay. Get on your dad," he orders, showing Casper the treat. Casper goes over to Jay before jumping up and laying across his lap once again. "Good boy," Will praises.

Looking over to Hailey, Will asks, "Do you want to…" trailing off, not knowing how to word his question.

"No, you go ahead. I've been doing this with Casper since he started, he's used to me. I want him to get used to you working with him," Hailey tells him hoping he doesn't take it the wrong way.

Will calls over the dog and starts over.

Hailey lets Will and Jay work with Casper for about an hour and a half before she stops them, "Let's take a break. Since Jay has nothing to cook, how does Chinese sound?"

Both brothers look at each other before looking back to Hailey agreeing with her.

"Your usual, Jay?" she asks. Receiving a nod she turns to Will, "What about you?" Will give her his order. "Fifteen minutes," she tells the brothers when she hangs up a few minutes later.

Looking over to the brothers she sees Jay is in the same spot with Casper still sitting on him, Will now sitting next to his brother.

"Will what did you think of Casper's training?" Hailey asks.

"I thought it was interesting," he tells Hailey before turning to Jay, making sure he understands that he means what he says, "I'm glad that you're letting me be a part of this," he tells Jay putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hailey, which task are we doing next?" Jay asks.

"What do you think would be more beneficial for you? Grounding during flashbacks or intervention with sensory overload?" Hailey asks.

"I don't know?"

"Okay, Jay," Will intervenes before Jay has a panic attack. "I think that for you the two will intermix. So why don't we wait until Casper is ready for the next task and see how similar the training is."

"Okay." Before anyone can say anything else, the buzzard ring letting them know their food is there.

Hailey gets up to get their food. Bringing the food into the kitchen, Hailey takes it out of the bag letting the brothers claim theirs. They eat their food, catching up with each other from the past two weeks; Hailey and Will being careful not to let it slip that they talk about Jay.

* * *

After eating dinner and hanging out with his brother and his brother's partner for a while, Will excuses himself, claiming he has an early shift the next morning.

"I should get going too," Hailey tells Jay. "Let you and Casper have some time together. I know you feel bad about leaving him in the cage so much."

"You don't have to," Jay tells her.

"Jay, it's fine. Really. Plus I told Vanessa we could have a movie night."

"Okay, have fun with that," Jay laughs while walking his brother and partner to the door.

"What do you think of Casper and Jay's training?" Hailey asks once they are in the elevator, out of Jay's ear-shot.

"Well, I think they have they bonding down," Will comments.

"Yeah, that didn't take long."

"But seriously, I think this will work. Even if Casper doesn't become a service dog, he's already helped Jay so much. He's the Jay before the war… I didn't think I would ever get to see that side of my brother again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my brother even if he has a lot of baggage, but I hate seeing him hurt."

"No, I get what you mean. I mean, I didn't know Jay before the war, I met him after Lindsay and when his PTSD came back with a vengeance… but seeing this version of Jay- the Jay that doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders…" she trails off, not know what to say.

"You know, when we were at that first responder's picnic a couple of weeks ago, Ethan made a comment about how it seems like they saved each other. And seeing them together tonight I think it's true."

"Yeah," Hailey sighs as they reach their cars. "Thanks for making sure Jay knows you're there."

"He's my brother. Of course, I am. I abandoned him once, I'm not going to again"

"I know… I just know that Jay has a hard time believing that. I don't think that the way Lindsay and Antonio left helped him in that department."

"Yeah, I just hope that he can trust me one day."

"He does. If he didn't, you wouldn't be helping with Casper's training. I think he's just afraid to show it."

"Thanks, Hailey- for being there for Jay."

"Of course. He's my partner."


	13. A Much Needed Talk

"Is everything okay?" Hailey asks as they are walking out of the bullpen for the day.

Jay has been quiet since Will joined them with Casper's training sessions. They have had five more training sessions since Will's first one and he has made all but one. Hailey suspects that he has put a lot of effort into trading shifts to be able to make as many training sessions as he's been. For the first few days, Hailey thought that Jay was just in a mood and wanted to be left alone. Hailey also knows what happens when Jay has time to think, so she wants to approach this before their next session tomorrow.

"Yeah, why?" Jay answers.

"You've just been quiet recently."

"It's nothing."

"Is it the case?" Hailey questions, not letting him drop it. Jay doesn't answer, causing Hailey to push him more. "Go home, get Casper and come to my place. Vanessa won't be back until later. We haven't done 'our thing that works' in a while. I think you need it. No arguments."

"Okay," Jay answers softly, knowing it is a losing battle to argue with her. "Do you want me to pick up anything on the way over?"

"No, just bring Casper and whatever he needs."

* * *

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you? Or are we just going to sit in silence?" Hailey asks when Jay takes his spot next to her on the couch after giving Casper his food.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jay replies after taking a sip of his beer.

"Jay," Hailey sighs, wanting to be careful about how she approaches him. "I'm your partner. And your friend. I can read you and I know something is bothering you."

Jay remains silent.

"Is it the nightmares?"

"I…" Jay starts, "I guess I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything's just been so good with Casper. Something bad has to happen… I just- I just don't know what it is yet. He's been great and so have you and Will. I guess I'm just waiting for you and Will to decide that my PTSD is too much to deal with. I have too much baggage- you're going to end up resenting me."

"Jay," Hailey consoled, "Everyone has baggage… you have been through so much, more than anyone should, I would be worried if you didn't have baggage. I can promise that I will not bail on you. And from what I can tell Will's going to be in your corner- no matter what. And neither one of us are going to resent you."

"It's just- everyone leaves. And I can't help but think it's my fault- that I'm too messed up to be around. Will left once, who's to say he isn't going to leave again. Erin was my partner and Antonio was my friend and they both left. What happens when you realize I have too much baggage, that I can't be fixed. The only person I knew I could count on left too," Jay cries referring to his mother.

Hailey knows that this is the alcohol allowing Jay to admit these fears, a sober Jay would hide this pain.

"You're right," Hailey tells him while pulling him into a hug, "Will did leave once, but I know for a fact that he regrets that. Will is not going to leave you again, I can tell he's trying to fix the relationship between you two. As for Erin and Antonio- they both had their own baggage. I didn't get to know Erin that well, but I know she had her own issues that she needed to work out. And Antonio needed to leave Chicago. He needed a fresh start away from his temptations." Hailey lets go of Jay, wanting him to look her in the eyes as she tells him what she is going to say next. "Jay, I can't promise that I'd never leave you, not with our line of work. But I will promise I will never voluntarily leave you- you're stuck with me."

Hailey pauses, not knowing the best approach to Jay's comment about being fixed. So, she just hopes that the right words will come out of her mouth. "Jay, I don't like how you're using the term _fixed_. Saying it like that implies that you are broken- you're not. I see you struggle and I hate that I can't take away that pain. I just want to help you get to a healthy place, but you need to _want _that too. Don't do it for me or for your brother or for anyone else. Do it because you want it for yourself. You're going to have your bad days- and that's okay, you're human. But one day, you'll get to the point where your good days outnumber your bad ones. You're going to be okay- it might take some time, but Will, Casper and I will be with you every step of the way- and if you let them, the rest of the team will stand by you. And your mom is always going to be watching over you. I never met her, but from what I heard out of Will: she loved you so much. Your mom would have never left you willingly and I know she would be proud of you and how far you've come."

"How do you know?" Jay asks unshed tears in his eyes.

"Because I'm proud of you, Will's proud of you, it's hard to not be proud of you."

"Thank you," Jay whispers burying his face into the crook of Hailey's neck, hot tears staining the collar of her shirt. His thanks having may meanings and Hailey understands each one without further explanation.

Hailey allows Jay to let his emotions out without comment, only rubbing his back to silently let him know she is there for him.

With this emotional weight lifted from Jay, he ends up falling asleep against Hailey soon after the tears stop. Hailey adjusts him some so he is in a more comfortable position and grabs the throw blanket that is across the back of the couch and tosses it over Jay the best she can as she is trapped under his head. She watches him for a while, his steady breathing signaling that he is resting peacefully.

When she decides it is time to go to bed herself, Hailey carefully slides out from under Jay's head and places it on a pillow. She then grabs an old blanket out of the closet for Casper to sleep on. The next thing she does it takes Casper's leash and puts it in a place where Vanessa won't find it- only so she doesn't see the wrap around it stating that Casper is a service dog in training, as Jay is not ready for the rest of the team to know yet. The last thing she does before going up herself is send Vanessa a text to let her know that there are guests. _Try to be quiet when you get in. Jay fell asleep on the couch. And be careful not to trip on Casper._

_Okay_ Vanessa answers.

Hailey goes to bed glad that Jay talked to her about what was bothering him, but with the gut feeling that he's not going to be completely settled about Will not leaving again until he hears it from his brother for himself.


	14. Brotherly Love

"Is there something going on between you two?" Vanessa asks the next morning. The two girls are in the kitchen working their way through their first cup of coffee.

"No. We're just partners and friends," Hailey answers quickly, taking her eyes off of the sleeping detective.

"Is he okay? I mean, from what I heard, Jay's not exactly a heavy sleeper. Shouldn't he have woken up by now?" Hailey gives Vanessa a questioning look making her explain further. "Ruzek told me if Jay's sleeping to steer clear or he might accidentally attack me."

"He had a bad day yesterday add in some beer…" Hailey drifts off, letting Vanessa get an idea of what happened.

Jay starts to stir hearing two voices. Casper hears Jay moving around and leaves the kitchen to go to his human. Wanting Jay awake, Casper starts licking his face. Jay sleepily pushes the dog's face away from his own, "Casper, stop," he orders. "I'm awake." Jay sits up, rubbing his eyes, trying to remember why he is on his partner's couch and not in his own apartment.

"How are you feeling, Jay?" Hailey asks, concerned about his buzzed confession last night.

"Okay," Jay lies.

"Do you want breakfast? We have plenty," Vanessa offers, not knowing him well enough to know that he is lying to them.

"I can't. I need to take Casper home and feed him before I go in," Jay answers while looking for Casper's leash.

"Leash is in your jacket pocket," Hailey tells him before he is able to ask.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys in a little bit," Jay answers as he is clipping the leash on Casper being careful to keep the leash wrap out of Vanessa's view.

"Is he normally like that?" Vanessa asks after Jay shuts the door behind him; having little interaction with the former Army Ranger outside of work.

"Sometimes, he has his days," Hailey vaguely answers.

Hailey excuses herself to get ready for the day but actually wants to get away so she can hopefully have a chat with Will before either of them have to be in for work.

Calling the now very familiar number, Hailey is surprised when Will answers on only the second ring.

"Hailey? Don't tell me that my brother already did something stupid and got hurt in the process today," is the first thing she hears over the line.

"No, Will. Have some faith in your brother, or at least my ability to keep him out of trouble," Hailey answers back.

"This is a bit early for a social call, isn't it?"

"Not exactly social. Were you planning on showing up to Casper's training session tonight?" Hailey asks hoping the answer was _yes_.

"Yeah, why?"

"Jay and I had a talk last night," Hailey starts. "You really need to talk with him. Brother to brother. Just the two of you."

"Is this your way of saying that I'm on my own tonight because I don't know if I have this step of the task down?" Will asks.

"No, I'm still going to come. I was just thinking that I should let you guys talk, then one of you can text me when you guys are done and are ready to start training."

"Okay. Do I get a hint to what this is about?"

"Jay's hurting, he bottles everything up. I think there are some things that he needs to hear you tell him for yourself," Hailey answers, not wanting to lose Jay's trust if he found out the extent that the two of them talk about his well-being.

"Okay…" Will draws out.

* * *

"Everything okay?" Ethan asks when he notices his colleague lost in thought for the umpteenth time that day.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Will answers, still a bit unfocused. Ethan doesn't believe him and gives Will a look letting him know. Will sighs, "I got a phone call from Hailey this morning… about Jay. She said that they talked last night and that I really need to talk with him. She won't tell me why though."

"She knows you can figure it out," Ethan states confidently.

"I just don't know if I can. Jay and I … we used to be close growing up, but we just drifted. I went to New York, he went overseas, our mom died, he came back and I wasn't there for him."

"Your past doesn't have to be your future. You're his brother- deep down, Jay knows he can open up to you. It just might take a while. He's a soldier- they're taught that emotions and vulnerability are weaknesses. You can't un-program that overnight, just show him that you're there for him."

"When did you get advice on-" Will starts to ask.

"I might not have a brother, but I am the older sibling," Ethan answers.

* * *

"Will have you heard from Hailey?" Jay asks as he opens the door for his brother.

"What do you mean?" Will asks confused.

"She's not here yet. What if something happened to her?" Jay asks panicked.

"She called me this morning. Said she was going to be late," Will answers wanting to calm his brother.

"Why did I do something wrong?" Jay asks fearful that last night was an empty promise.

"No, come on. Let's sit down," Will leads Jay to the couch with Casper at their heels.

"What's going on?" Jay asks nervously.

"I don't know exactly. Jay is there something you want to tell me? Hailey called me this morning; said that you guys talked last night and that we needed to have a talk- brother to brother."

"What did she tell you?"

"Just that. Look, Jay, I don't know what to say. I want to help you, but you need to let me in," Will starts hoping to get some type of reaction from Jay. When he remains expressionless Will continues, "I want what's best for you- I just don't know what you need from me, but I can tell you one thing: I'm not leaving again," Will notices that Jay's eyebrows furrow in thought. "Is that what this is about? Do you want me to leave?"

"No," Jay whispers, not looking at Will, but scratching Casper behind his ear.

"Do you think I'm going to leave?" Will asked.

"It's only a matter of time. Everyone leaves"

"I promise, I'm not leaving again. I will tell you as many times as you need to hear it."

"Why?"

"'Why' what?"

"Why are you staying? Everybody leaves," Jay comments.

"Who's everybody?"

"Erin, Antonio, Al, Mouse, you, Mom," Jay lists, whispering the last name.

Will's heart sinks when he hears Jay list all these names, realizing just how right Hailey was about Jay hurting and keeping things to himself. Will gets up and moves next to Jay so that Casper is no longer in between them.

Will carefully puts his hand on the back of Jay's neck rubbing it with the pad of his thumb like Jay liked when they were growing up and he was upset. "Jay, I can't change the fact that I left before when you needed me. But I'm not going to leave again- I've settled in Chicago. We both have, we both have a support system and families here. Antonio and Mouse, they both had to get out of Chicago- if they didn't they could be dead. I never thought Erin was good enough for you. The way she left, she didn't deserve to be with you. And Olinsky, he didn't have a choice- he was murdered."

Will takes a moment to think of how he wants to approach the subject of their mom. "You know mom loved you, right?" Will asked.

Jay nods, still only looking at Casper.

"Mom loved you so much, you were her baby. She didn't want to leave you- she was so sick, but she fought to the end for you. It was like she knew you would be going through hell when you came home. She wanted so badly to be able to help you through it. I know you wouldn't want her to see you like that but she wouldn't care. That's what mom's do they support their kids. You know that Mom would be so proud of you and how far you've come, right?"

"I know. I just really miss her," Jay whispers.

"I know, I know. I do too," Will comforts his brother. Will pulls Jay into a one-armed hug and lets Jay rest his head on his shoulder. Jay's head rests on his brother and his dog rests his head on Jay's lap, the three staying like this for several minutes.

After a while, Will feels Jay's breathing become steady, "Hey, do you still want to do the training session tonight or do you want to skip it?" Will asks.

"I don't want to mess up Casper's schedule," Jay answers.

"That wasn't what I asked you. Do you feel up to it?"

"Not really," Jay mumbles.

"I'll let Hailey know. But do you feel better now that we talked?" Will asked. He can feel Jay nodding into his shoulder.

"Thanks," Jay whispers.

"For what?" Will asks confused.

"For being here, for helping me, for being my brother- you pick."

"You don't have to thank me for any of that," Will tells him before adding, "You know I love you, right?"

Jay nods again, "I know. I love you too."

Will pulls out his phone and calls Hailey, "Hey, how did it go?" she asks when she picks up.

"Was good. Would you mind if we didn't have Casper's training session today?" Will asks.

"No problem. Is Jay okay?"

"I think he's just emotionally done for the day."

"Okay, do you guys need anything?"

"No, we're good," Will answers with Jay's eyes on him. "I think Jay wants to talk to you," he says handing off the phone.

"Jay?" Hailey asks when she only hears his breathing.

"Are you mad?" Jay asks.

"At you? About the training session?" Hailey asks confused.

Jay nods his head before realizing she can't see him and then verbally answers.

"No, I'm not, Jay. Do you need me to bring you guys anything?"

"No."

"Okay, then just relax and spend some time with Will and Casper. You've had a rough couple of days. You deserve a day off from Casper's training."

"But it's not my training."

"It's just as much your training as his," Hailey tells him. "Now, I'm going to hang up and you are going to relax," Hailey tells him before hanging up the phone.

"I think she's mad."

"She's not. She might be a little worried about you, but she's not mad. You're overthinking things," Will reassures Jay, hoping that with time, Jay will be more trusting.


	15. Casper Helps the Kids

"He's doing a lot better," Will comments to Hailey a few weeks later on a rare Saturday that they all have off.

"Yeah, but he hides things well," Hailey tells the older Halstead as the two watch Jay throw a ball for Casper.

"What do your instincts tell you?" Will asks the blonde detective.

"About what?"

"About Jay. Do you think he's hiding something right now?"

"If he is, he's hiding it very good," Hailey states.

"If you're not seeing it, then I don't think he is," Will tells her. "You can read him like a book. You knew there was something bothering him, every time you know before he shows it. I had no idea what was happening."

"Will, he bottles things up until he spirals. If he's showing that something is bothering him, he's at a point where he's spiraling out of control. I just spend a lot of time with him at work."

"He's my brother, I should know him better. He should feel like he can come to me."

"If it makes you feel any better, he doesn't come to me. I force it out of him because I need to know that his head is on straight when we're at work."

Before Will can respond, Jay comes over with Casper. "Hey, I just got a text from Voight. We got a body."

"Okay, let's go."

"Do you want me to take Casper back to your place for you?" Will asks.

"Yeah, thanks," Jay answers as they walk back to the cars. Jay hands the leash off to his brother, "Go with Uncle Will," he tells his dog.

* * *

Arriving at the scene Hailey and Jay search for Voight when they are the first to arrive to the scene.

"What do we got, Sarge?" Hailey asks.

"Home invasion gone bad. According to the neighbors, the parents are out of town but the kids were home. Eighteen-year-old brother, Seamus, was watching the younger siblings: seven-year-old Declan and five-year-old Bridget. The younger ones are fine, scared but uninjured. Looks like older brother died protecting them, hid them in a closet, he has defensive marks on him."

Hearing that the case involves children Hailey looks over to Jay, silently asking if he's going to be okay since children are one of his triggers.

Jay nods, but his eyes don't say the same thing. Hailey makes a mental note to keep tabs on him while they are handling this case.

Seeing that the rest of their team has arrived Voight tells the two detectives, "Take the kids back to the district- see if you can get them talking and call DCFS. I'm going to catch the others up and then talk with the neighbors- see if they know anything else."

"Why call DCFS?" Jay asks.

"Immigrant family. Parents when back to the home country to sort something out. No other family in the country let alone Illinois."

Before Jay can question their boss again, Hailey grabs his arm and pulls him over to the kids.

Going up to the two kids sitting on the back of the ambulance Hailey introduces themselves to the scared kids, "Hi. My name is Hailey and this is my friend Jay. We're the police. Do you want to see a police station."

The two kids look at each other scared before the boy nods his head. After they get the clear from Brett and Foster to take the kids, Hailey grabs on to a hand on each child and walks them to Jay's truck.

Getting them into the back seat she warns Jay, "Drive carefully. These kids should be in car seats."

"I'm a good driver," Jay says feigning hurt while getting into the driver's seat.

* * *

After a careful drive, Jay gets them to the Twenty-First District. Hailey and Jay bring them into the breakroom of the Intelligence Unit. Sitting them at the small table Jay asks, "Did you see what happened?"

The two remain quiet and Hailey gives him an incredulous look. "Jay," she scolds. "Don't start with that." Hailey turns her attention to the young siblings, "Do you have a favorite animal?

The two remain silent, causing Jay to give her a look saying _you didn't do much better_. The two take turns asking random questions trying to get the children to open up.

After a long fifteen minutes, Jay turns to Hailey, "This isn't working. I have an idea."

"What? I'm down for trying anything at this point," Hailey tells him.

"I'm going to run home and get Casper. See if having him here will get them to open up," Jay tells her.

"I don't think Voight will go for it," Hailey warns him.

"At this point, it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission," he tells her while grabbing his keys.

"Fine, but you're the one explaining this to Voight," Hailey tells him as he walks out of the room.

* * *

"Casper, come here boy," Jay calls for the dog as he opens his apartment door. Casper is happy to see Jay and goes straight to him. Jay clips on his leash, taking off the leash wrap before leading him out of the apartment.

Jay loads Casper into the back of his truck for the ride back to the district.

Arriving back at the district, Jay gets Casper out of the truck. As soon as he steps foot into the building, he is greeted by the voice of the desk sergeant, Platt. "Chuckles, what is that animal doing in my precinct?"

"It's Detective Chuckles and the two kids from the home invasion, we can't get them to talk- at all. I'm hoping that they will start talking about something if I bring Casper in," Jay tells her.

Platt softens when she hears about the children not speaking, but can't help making one more remark at Jay, "Casper? Like the carton ghost? Wouldn't expect something so…" she makes a vague hand gesture not knowing how to describe what she wants to say, "as a name from you."

"He had the name when I got him," Jay calls back as he is walking towards where the Intelligence Unit is.

"Jay, why is your dog here?" Ruzek asks, bringing attention to the two.

"The kids have been completely mute since we brought them back here. I was hoping that Casper could get them to talk," Jay explains when Voight looks at him.

"Worth a try," Voight comments, having a soft spot for children.

Jay takes Casper into the breakroom where Hailey still is with the kids. Jay notices Bridget's eyes light up when she sees the yellow lab. "This is my dog, Casper. Do you like dogs?"

Declan nods.

"Do you want to pet him?"

Bridget looks to Declan before nodding.

"Go ahead," Jay encourages.

"Where's Seamus?" Declan whispers as he and his sister are petting Casper.

"Did you hear anything this morning?" Hailey asks, not knowing how to tell two children that their brother was dead.

"No, Seamus hid us in a closet and told us not to come out," Declan tells the detectives.

"Do you know when your parents are going to be back?" Jay asks.

"Tomorrow," before Declan can say anything else, Ruzek appears at the door.

"Sorry, DCFS is here."

"What's happening?" Bridget speaks for the first time.

"Until your parents get back, DCFS is going to take you somewhere to stay."

"Why can't we stay with Sea?" she asks.

"He can't take care of you right now."

"I need to take the kids with me now," the DCFS worker tells them.

"Okay, until we figure out what happened, they need to go in protective custody," Hailey tells him.

"We have a few homes for that."

"Thanks."

* * *

"This is going nowhere," Jay complains at his desk rubbing at his temples after five hours of nothing. Casper sits up from his spot under Jay's desk and places his head on Jay's leg. Voight having let Casper stay as long as he didn't get in the way.

"Alright everyone, call it a night. Come back in the morning with fresh eyes," Voight tells them.

"Anyone up for Molly's?" Ruzek asks.

Everyone gives different variations of _yes _after the day they've had.

"I'll meet you there after I take Casper home," Jay tells the rest of the team.

"Are you sure you're coming?" Adam asks.

"Yes, I just need to take Casper home," Jay tells him before leaving with Casper.

* * *

"I don't think he's showing," Adam comments to the rest of the unit after waiting on Jay for forty-five minutes.

"Have you heard from him?" Vanessa asks Hailey.

"No. I've texted him, but haven't gotten an answer yet," Hailey answers.

"Do you think he's okay?" Kim asks concerned for her teammate.

"He seemed okay. I can usually get a good read off of him, nothing seemed off," Hailey answers.


	16. Chapter 16: Casper Takes Care of Jay I

"Hey, where were you last night?" Hailey asks when Jay joins her in the breakroom the next morning to get coffee.

"Huh?" Jay asks still not completely awake.

"Molly's? You never showed," Hailey elaborated. "I'm not mad. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Oh, yeah. I had a headache so went to lay down for a couple of minutes- I ended up falling asleep," Jay tells her.

Hailey takes a good look at Jay, he looks tired but otherwise fine. "How are you feeling now?"

"Fine," Jay answers.

"Okay, I have Advil in my desk if you need any," Hailey tells him, receiving a nod in acknowledgment before he goes back to his desk.

"Do we have anything new?" Voight asks his team.

"No. It looks like it was random," Kim states.

"Jay and Hailey," Voight calls, "Go back and re-interview the neighbors."

The two detectives of the unit leave the bullpen to try to gather more information.

"You mind driving?" Jay asks as they are walking out of the building.

"You okay?" Hailey asks.

"Just tired."

Hailey nods making a mental note to keep an eye on him.

* * *

"Are you sure there isn't something you can tell us that will help?" Hailey asks again, not wanting to go back to the district empty-handed.

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help," the neighbor tells her.

"Thank you for your time."

"Did you get anything?" Jay asks as he walks up to Hailey.

"No. You?"

"Nothing," Jay groans, "There has to be something that we're missing." He goes to say something else before quickly turning his head and sneezing in his elbow.

"Bless you."

"Thanks," Jay mutters embarrassed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, let's get back. Maybe someone else found something."

"Okay. Maybe Voight was able to talk with the parents," Hailey offers.

The ride is silent back to the precinct, the case getting to both of them.

* * *

"Halstead, Upton. We got a lead," Voight informs them when they get back to the bullpen. "Talked to the parents, and we got all the names of those who had access to the house. One of the names came back as a brother of a gang member. Atwater and Burgess are checking it out."

Just as he finishes catching the two detectives up to date, the two come back in. "We found the weapon with Seamus' DNA on it. Got him in interrogation," Atwater tells them.

Voight nods before making his way to the interrogation room calling Kevin to follow him.

It takes less than ten minutes before Voight comes back into the bullpen with a confession. "Finish up your paperwork and you can leave after," Voight tells his team, knowing that cases involving kids affects them all.

* * *

"Ready to get out of here?" Hailey asks Jay as he is finishing his paperwork. They are the last ones in the bullpen, Jay taking the longest to finish his paperwork.

"Yeah," Jay answers tiredly while getting up.

"Are you okay?" Hailey asks rubbing his arm.

"Yeah, just tired," Jay answers as they walk out of the bullpen.

"You up for Casper's training today?" Hailey asks not completely believing him.

"Mm-hm. Will isn't coming. Something about having to cover someone at Med."

"Okay, I'll meet you at your place later," Hailey says as they get in their respective vehicles.

* * *

"Did I wake you?" Hailey asks as Jay opens the door for her after a few minutes.

"No, was just watching a movie."

"Okay, so I figure we can start on grounding. We're still going to keep going with the first task, but we should be able to start working in a second task," Hailey informs him.

"Sounds good. How does training work for this one?" Jay asks.

"So, I couldn't find anything on how to do it-" Jay interrupts her with a sneeze. "Bless you, but the objective is to interrupt the flashback to bring you back to the present if you get caught in one," Hailey tells him.

Hailey goes over to what they call Casper's Cabinet and grabs the training treats. "He can do that by licking your hands or face- whichever he has access to. So the first thing is to get Casper away from you," Hailey comments when she sees that the dog has not left Jay's side since she got to his apartment. "Casper, come," Hailer orders. Casper just looks at her before laying his head back on Jay's lap.

"Casper go to Hailey," Jay coughs.

"Jay, are you feeling okay?" Hailey asks recalling Jay's behavior earlier in the day.

"Fine," Jay answers quickly.

"Are you sure you're not getting sick? Dogs can tell when their owner isn't feeling well and Casper hasn't left your side," Hailey points out.

Before Jay can answer he looks away, sneezing into his elbow again, groaning as it hurt his head.

"I think you're getting a cold," Hailey states sympathetically placing her hand on the back of his neck. "You're a little warm, but I don't think it's a fever."

"We can still do Casper's training," Jay insists.

"If your dog is as stubborn as you, he's not moving," Hailey tells him, "And this won't work if Casper is not cooperating. I'm going to go home and let you rest, do you need anything before I leave?" Jay shakes his head _no_. "Okay, I'll see you later," she tells Jay before turning her attention to Casper, "You take care of your dad." Casper barks happily at her.

Hailey leaves Jay's apartment, knowing the next thing she has to work on with Jay is getting him to take care of himself.

* * *

"Hey, I thought you were at Jay's tonight to help train Casper?" Vanessa asks when Hailey walks through the door earlier than expected.

"I was, but Casper was being stubborn and not leaving Jay's side.

"Oh. I was about to put on Netflix and try to find something light to watch after this case we had. Want to join?"

"Yeah, let me change and I'll be right out."

"So Casper was being stubborn?" Vanessa asks as Hailey comes back down.

"Yeah, he's defiantly Jay's dog," Hailey comments before grabbing the remote to search for something they both want to watch.

* * *

"Here," Hailey hands Jay a travel cup of hot lemon tea with honey while looking him over when she walks into the bullpen the next day. Taking in his appearance, Hailey notes that he looks terrible, he looks more tired than yesterday, his eyes are bloodshot, his face is pale, and his nose is red.

"Thanks," Jay tells her, voice congested.

"You should have stayed home, you sound miserable," Hailey voices her concern.

"I'm fine, it's just a cold," Jay argues.

"Fine, but stay here and don't go into the field today. The weather is terrible, it will probably make you feel worse," Hailey pleads.

"Okay," Jay coughs. Hailey is surprised by how easily Jay agrees, making her want to keep a close eye on him today.

Slowly the rest of the team makes their way into the bullpen. Once everyone is there Voight announces that since they just closed a case, they are going to be working on any paperwork that needs to be handed in until they get another case. Hailey is hoping that the criminals of Chicago aren't going to do anything with how much it is raining.

By one o'clock, they are still in the bullpen waiting for a case to come in. Hailey who has been keeping an eye on Jay, notes that he hasn't been able to go five minutes without sneezing or coughing, is ready to make him go home.

The bullpen is empty besides the two of them; Voight taking care of something at the Ivory Tower, Kevin and Adam are doing inventory from a case a few weeks ago, and Vanessa and Kim went on a coffee run, so she takes this as an opportunity to try to convince him to go home.

Hailey gets up and stands next to Jay's desk, "Hey."

"Yeah?" Jay answers hoarsely.

"Go home, you sound awful. You should be resting, not working," Hailey tells him placing her hand on the back of his neck again. "You feel feverish."

"But what if a case comes in?"

"I doubt we're going to get one now if we haven't already. Go before you get the whole team sick. Are you good to drive or do you need a ride?" Hailey asks, making it clear that she isn't giving him a choice.

"I can drive myself," he answers.

"Okay, do you have any medicine at home?" Hailey asks, already knowing the answer.

"Tylenol," Jay answers.

"Okay, go home and I'll bring you some cold medicine and food when I leave."

"You don't need to," Jay tells her.

"Did you even sleep last night?" Hailey asks, giving Jay her _no bull_ look.

"I was up half the night," Jay admits quietly.

"I think that answers that. Go home, change into something comfortable and lay down- either go to bed or lay on the couch. Do you have a thermometer?" Hailey asks.

"Don't know."

"Okay, go. I'll check on you later," Hailey shoos him out of the bullpen.

After making sure that Jay actually left she texts Will, _What type of Gatorade does Jay like? And does he have a thermometer?_

_What's wrong?_ Will answers back immediately.

_I just made him go home. I think he has a bad cold._

_Gatorade has too much sugar, he likes either of the blue Pedialyte's but he will drink the grape one too. There should be a thermometer in his medicine cabinet. Do you need me to check on him?_

_No, I'm going to drop some things off after work. Is there any medicine he can't have?_

_No. He's allergic to penicillin, but that's not in any cold and flu meds._

_Okay._ Hailey sends before getting out the Lysol wipes and wipes down both Jay and her desks.

* * *

"Where's Jay?" Kim asks when she and Vanessa return.

"I made him go home."

"Good," Voight tells her as he comes up the steps. "Try to keep him away until he can be productive and not get everyone sick."

"I'll try."

The team finishes out their day hoping that they get a case soon, not that they want harm to come to the citizens of Chicago, but for their own sanity and the safety of their team after Ruzek and Atwater almost killed each other when they started a stupid game out of boredom.

"Vanessa," Hailey calls. "I'm going to stop and get some things for Jay before I come home, do you want me to pick up Chinese for dinner?"

"Sounds good. Orange chicken?" Vanessa asks.

"Got it. I'll text you when I'm leaving Jay's," Hailey tells her.

"You going to be long?" Vanessa asks.

"No, I'm just dropping the stuff off for him," Hailey answers.

* * *

Hailey goes to Walmart to pick up a pack of DayQuil and NyQuil, a couple boxes of tissues, a box of teabags, and a couple bottles of Pedialyte. While in the medicine aisle she sees a box of Vick's vapor patch and grabs it thinking it could help with how bad Jay sounded.

After checking out, Hailey goes to the Chinese joint that they always go to getting Vanessa her orange chicken, herself honey sesame chicken, and getting Jay wonton soup and brown rice, not knowing what he will be up to eating.

When Hailey arrives at Jay's place she uses her key to get in, not wanting to startle Jay awake if he was actually sleeping. Walking into his apartment, she sees Jay laying on his side on the couch with a blanket on top of him and Casper laying with Jay where his knees are bent.

Wanting to delay waking Jay up, Hailey walks into his bathroom to look for the thermometer that Will told her about. Finding the small plastic device, Hailey runs it under the sink to wash it off before going back out to Jay.

Reaching behind Jay, Hailey starts to rub circles on his back to wake him, "Jay? Can you wake up for me?"

"Hailey?" he asks sitting up, somehow triggering a coughing fit. Feeling bad that she might have caused Jay's current predicament, she rubs his back until it subsides. The change in positions and the coughing fit cause Jay to lose the blanket, letting Hailey see that he did change into something more comfortable- a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.

"Yeah, it's me. I picked up Chinese for Vanessa and me, so I got you wonton soup and brown rice. I wasn't sure what you were up to eating."

"Not hungry," Jay tells her sleepily.

"Eating isn't optional," Hailey tells him.

"Soup then," Jay replies.

"Okay, I'm going to get that for you, but I need you to take your temperature," Hailey tells him while handing him the thermometer.

Jay sticks the device in his mouth while Hailey goes to the kitchen to get his food. The thermometer beeps just as she comes back to Jay. Hailey takes the device before Jay can get rid of the reading, "100.7. That's not too high. Eat this, I put the rice in your refrigerator for later. I also got you medicine- so take that when you finish eating- tissues, Pedialyte, tea bags, some Vick's vapor patches if you're having trouble breathing."

"Thanks, Hailey, but you didn't have to do this," Jay tries to tell her.

"You're my partner," Hailey tells him as if that is the answer before asking if he wants her to take Casper out before she leaves. Jay tries to tell her that he can later, but Hailey won't hear it.

"Now, I need to take home Vanessa and my food before it gets cold, but call or text me if you need anything. I mean it. Eat that, take the meds, and go to bed," Hailey tells him when she brings Casper back in, the dog going back to his spot on the couch near Jay.

* * *

"How was he?" Vanessa asks when Hailey walks into her house.

"Sick, but I pretty sure it's just a bad cold. He had a low fever, but it wasn't high enough for the flu."

The two eat their food, hoping that tomorrow will bring sun.


	17. Chapter 17: Casper Takes Care of Jay II

Once Hailey left, Jay finished his soup and took the NyQuil with a swig of the Pedialyte before taking a box of the tissues and the box of the patches, just in case, into his room. Casper follows Jay, knowing something isn't right with his human. Jay lays down, bundled under his blankets and Casper cuddles next to him. It doesn't take Jay long to fall asleep, the medicine knocking him out.

Jay's sleep isn't peaceful for long as his fever is causing nightmares. Casper hears this and climbs on top of his human, licking his face until the whimpering stops. Even though the whimper has stopped, Casper stays on top of Jay.

Jay doesn't even notice when Will lets himself into the apartment to check on his brother after his shift. Jay is back on his side and Casper is no longer on top of him, but he is still close by, Jay's hand resting on Casper's head.

Will carefully places a hand on his brother's forehead trying not to disturb him. Jay sighs at the contact causing him to cough himself awake. Seeing his brother struggle, Will helps him sit up, "You're okay. Just breathe," Will coaxes rubbing his back. "Here, small sips," Will hands Jay the bottle of Pedialyte.

"What time is it?" Jay asks.

"Just after eleven. How do you feel?"

"Been better."

"You feel warm, when was the last time you took something?"

"Don't know. Maybe seven or eight."

"Okay, it's too early for you to take more," Will tells him while turning the bedside light on low. He sees the box of patches. "Do you feel up to taking a shower? The hot water would help," Will suggest, not liking the congestion in his voice.

"No, I just want to sleep."

"Here," Will hands the thermometer to Jay wanting to get a reading on his temperature. Will then lifts up Jay's shirt enough that he can get the patch on his chest. The device beep and Will takes it from Jay, "101.7," Will says concerned. A cold shouldn't cause a fever that high, especially with cold meds already in his system and giving Jay the drink of Pedialyte would have lowered the reading some. "I'll wake you in a couple of hours for more meds."

"You need to go home to Kohl," Jay tells him tiredly.

"He can wait a couple of hours," Will tells him, "I'll be in the living room if you need anything." Jay's snoring lets Will know that he probably didn't hear anything he said.

Will sets an alarm on his phone for two in the morning, so he can wake Jay to take more meds. Will falls asleep on the couch after a long shift, with the conclusion that Jay most likely has the flu and not a cold.

Will wakes up to his phone three hours later. Going into Jay's room he sees that Jay had moved in his sleep so his arm laying across Casper.

"Jay, wake up," He gently shakes the former soldier awake, ready to catch Jay's arm if he tries to punch him; only for Jay to groan from being woken. "Open," Will orders, sticking the device in Jay's mouth. The device reads 102.3, a sign that the meds have worn off. Will helps Jay sit up so he can take the pills. After making Jay drink some Pedialyte, Will lets him go back to sleep.

* * *

Will wakes up at six-twenty to the sound of painful coughing. Will gets up to check on his brother, walking into Jay's bedroom Will sees Jay sitting up trying to control his coughing with Casper leaning into his side, Jay's hand gripping at his collar.

Will rubs his back hoping it would keep Jay calm, "Just breathe," Will tells him feeling helpless.

When the coughing stops, Casper starts licking Jay's face and neck. "Not feeling any better?" Will asks sympathetically.

Jay shakes his head, "I think this is the worse cold I've ever had," Jay mumbles.

"From how high your fever was earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the flu. How long have you felt sick?" Will asks wanting to see if he should take Jay to Med to get him a prescription for Tamiflu.

"How high? Hailey said it wasn't too bad," Jay says not answering the question.

"Little over 102. Do you remember what Hailey said it was?" Jay shakes his head again. "Okay, do you know when you started to feel sick?" Will tries again.

"No, sorry."

"It's okay. Do you want to lay on the couch? I'm going to see if Hailey brought you anything to help your cough," Will asks.

"No."

"Okay, call me if you need anything," Will tells him before going back out to the living room to see what Hailey brought Jay, hoping there is something that will help ease Jay's coughing.

Searching through the Walmart bag, Will finds a box of teabags. Will puts water on the stove to make the tea, hoping it would help Jay's throat.

While the water is boiling, Will decides it is late enough to call Hailey to see if she can fill in the blanks that Jay is missing. "Hailey, do you have time to talk before you go to work?" Will asks.

"Yeah, what's up? Is Jay okay?" She asks concerned.

"He's still not feeling great, I just wanted to see if you could answer some things that Jay couldn't."

"I can try."

"He said that you told him his fever wasn't too bad when you took it, do you remember what it was?"

"100.7, I think."

"Okay, this might be a bit harder. Do you have any idea when Jay started feeling sick?"

"He went home early yesterday- around one, but he looked miserable when he got in in the morning. The day before he was tired; I didn't think anything of it. Casper wouldn't leave his side, so we had to scratch the training session. The night before that he was supposed to meet us at Molly's, but he never showed. When I asked the next day, he said he had a headache and went to bed early. Why?" Hailey questions.

"I think he has the flu. I wanted to see where we were on the window for Tamiflu," Will answers. "If you're right and this started about three days ago, he missed the window that it would work."

"What's that mean for him?"

"It just has to run its course. Rest, fluids, the like."

"Should I have brought him to an urgent care yesterday?" Hailey asks before realizing something. "Wait, it's April. Isn't flu season over?"

"You can get it any time, but flu season is generally from October to May. And you didn't know, Jay likes to hide things until he can't anymore."

"That sounds like him. Let him know I'll bring him some soup over tonight?"

"I will. This is going to knock him on his ass for the next couple of days, do you think you can stop by around lunch to let Casper out?"

"Yeah, no problem. Need me to do anything else?"

"No, I'll come back when I get off."

"Okay, let me know if that changes."

"I will, thanks," Will hangs up.

Will goes back into Jay's room and places the drink on the nightstand. Will hands Jay the thermometer again. When it beeps Jay lets Will have it, "102 even. Drink this, it should help your throat. Do you need anything before I go to work?"

"No."

"Okay. Hailey is going to stop by around lunch to let Casper out and she said to tell you she will bring you soup tonight," Will tells Jay before turning his attention to the dog, "Casper, come on. You need to go outside." Casper just stares at Will.

"Casper go with Uncle Will," Jay orders the dog before resting against the pillows. Casper reluctantly gets off of the bed and follows Will.

Will lets Casper out and feeds him when they come back in. As soon as he is finished, Casper finds his way back to Jay's bed. "Jay, did you take the DayQuil?"

"No."

"Take it," Will hands him the pills before he walks out of Jay's room.

* * *

"Who was that? Do we have a case?" Vanessa asks when she sees Hailey hang up the phone.

"No, it was Will. He wanted to see if I could stop by Jay's place around lunch to let Casper out."

"How is he?"

"Will thinks it's the flu and he missed the window for Tamiflu."

"Sounds rough," Vanessa comments as the two walk out of the door.

"Yeah and he hates needles so I doubt he got the flu shot," Hailey replies following Vanessa.

* * *

Hailey opens the door to Jay's apartment using her key, not wanting to wake him up if he was sleeping. Looking around, she finds Casper in the same spot that Will left him in, "Casper, let's go outside," she whispers, not wanting to wake Jay up.

Casper follows Hailey once she grabs a treat to bribe him. "Good boy," Hailey praises once Casper goes. Casper looks up to Hailey as if asking to go back to Jay. "Okay, okay," Hailey tells the dog letting him lead her back into the apartment building.

When Hailey opens the door Casper goes straight to the bathroom door, scratching at it trying to get in. Hailey follows him wanting to see what's going on. She sees a light coming from underneath the door, "Jay? Are you okay?" Hailey knocks on the door.

"Hailey?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Okay."

Hailey opens the door to find Jay sitting in front of the toilet, "What happened?" Hailey asks placing a hand on his back and Casper rests his head on Jay's leg. Hailey takes in his appearance and notices he looks pale with the exception of red indicating the fever he is running.

"I thought I was going to be sick. And now I'm too dizzy to move."

"Okay, do you still feel like you're going to be sick?"

"Not right now."

"Come on," Hailey slowly helps Jay up, letting him lean on her, "Couch or bed?" Hailey asks.

"Couch."

"Okay. Come on. I got you," Hailey slowly walks Jay to the couch.

Hailey gets Jay to the couch and throws the blanket that he was using the night before back on him. "Do you want a bucket?" Jay nods. Hailey goes into his kitchen and grabs the bucket he keeps under the sink. "I was going to see if you wanted me to heat some of the rice from last night, but I think I know the answer."

"Sorry," Jay apologizes.

"Don't be, but try to get something in your system when Will comes back later okay?" Jay nods.

Hailey places her hand on the back of his neck again, "You're burning. Where's the thermometer?" Hailey asks looking around.

"Will used it this morning, probably in my room," Jay answers.

Hailey goes to his room to look for the device. Finding on his nightstand, Hailey returns to Jay, "Open," Hailey orders putting it in his mouth; Jay listens too tired to argue. "Are you cold?" Hailey asks when she notices him shivering. Jay shakes his head but Hailey knows better than to listen to him. "Sure," Hailey answers not believing him. She goes over to his hall closet and grabs another blanket for him. Going back over to him Hailey covers him with the second blanket. "102.1," she reads when the device beeps.

"Can you try to drink a little, I think you're dehydrated?" Hailey asks while handing him a bottle of Pedialyte. Jay looks at it before taking a small sip. "I think you can have more meds," Hailey hands him the DayQuil pack when she sees it is one o'clock. "Are you going to get the flu shot next year?" Hailey asks knowing her partner's aversion to needles.

"No," Jay answers quietly turning on his side so Casper can lay with him.

Hailey can tell from her partner's tone that something is bothering him, "Hey, what's wrong?" Hailey asks, sitting on the edge of the couch near his stomach, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," Jay apologizes.

"What?" Hailey asks confused.

"I would have been fine on my own."

"Jay," Hailey sighs. "You're my partner, I wanted to check on you. I know you would do the same for me."

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

"I don't know. It just is."

"Jay, I don't know what you were told before, but you're not a burden or a bother. It's not your fault you got sick."

"But I didn't get the flu shot."

"I'm sorry Jay, I was just joking," Hailey tells him feeling bad about her earlier comment.

"It's okay," Jay forgives.

"It's not, but we'll talk about it when you're feeling better. Do you need anything before I go back to work?"

"No. Thanks for letting Casper out," Jay thanks quietly.

"Of course. Casper, you take care of your dad. Let me know if you need anything," Hailey replies before quietly leaving his apartment.

* * *

When Hailey gets back to the district, she pulls out her personal phone to text Will, _Jay said he felt sick, so I couldn't get him to eat anything. Can you get ginger ale before you go back to his apartment?_

_Got it. Thanks for checking on him_, Will sends back when he sees the message.

* * *

Will quietly opens his brother's apartment after stopping at his own to take care of Kohl. Will is relieved seeing that the bucket Hailey left with him is still empty. "Jay, can you wake up for me?"

"What?"

"You haven't eaten all day. Do you think you can handle some toast?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, what about some ginger ale? I got some at work for you, so it's had time to go flat."

"I'm sorry," Jay apologized while sitting up and taking the drink.

"For what?"

"For getting sick, for bother you and Hailey," Jay answers still not believing what Hailey told him earlier. "For messing up Casper's training," Jay adds.

"Jay you're not bothering us. You can't help that you're not feeling well and you didn't mess up his training," Will says as he sits next to Jay, Casper moving so his head is on Jay's lap. "You feel cooler," Will comments when Jay rests his head against him.

"Hailey gave me some meds when she was here," Jay tells him.

"Good. Hey, you sweated through your shirt. I'm going to get you a new one," Will gets up being careful to not let Jay fall since he was resting on him.

Will goes to Jay's room and grabs a new long sleeve t-shirt from his drawer. "Do you need help?" Will asks.

"No," Jay answers as he works on getting his old shirt off. It takes a while but he does manage to get the new shirt on before laying back down.

* * *

Later that night Hailey stops by with the promised soup, "It's the Greek version of chicken noodle," she tells the older Halstead. "How is he?"

"I got some toast into him and he's managed to keep that down- that was three and a half hours ago, his fever was down to 101.8 the last I checked. And now he's back in bed with Casper."

"I'm glad he has Casper."

"Me too."

"He needed it," Hailey comments.

"Needed what?" Will asks confused.

"Dogs love unconditionally, I think that after everything he's been through Jay needed someone who could love him like that."


	18. Chapter 18: Back On Track Sort of

"How are you feeling?" Hailey asks Jay when he walks into the breakroom of the intelligence bullpen almost a week after the day she forced him to go home.

"Better. Still coughing and still a bit tired, but Will said that it would take a couple more weeks for those to go away," he tells her, voice still off.

"And your fever?" Hailey asks raising her hand to his neck.

"Gone."

"You still feel a little warm," Hailey tells him.

"Thanks for the soup, it was good," Jay tells her trying changing the subject. "You still come over for Casper's training tonight? I disinfected the whole apartment," he tells her.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk with you about that," Hailey starts.

"What's up?" Jay asks worriedly.

"Nothing bad. When you were sick last week, Will and I were talking, just trying to figure out how the training would work for these other tasks. Will told me that he had been talking with Ethan since he told us about this and that he had been talking to some other vets. Turns out that he has a friend that volunteers at an organization that trains service dogs. He said that he can connect us so we can see how to train the other tasks. We would still be doing the training on our own, but he can show us what we need to do," Hailey tells him.

"Okay, sounds good," Jay agrees.

"Let Will know so he can talk to Ethan," Hailey tells him as she walks out of the breakroom, leaving Jay by himself.

Jay pulls out his phone to call his brother before the rest of his team gets in. "Do you have a minute?" he asks when Will picks up his phone.

"Yeah, are you okay? You still don't sound great," Will asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hailey mentioned how you two were talking about Casper's training," Jay starts.

"She told you about Ethan's friend?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think?"

"Would it really help with training Casper?"

"It would help with giving us an idea of how to train him," Will answers.

"Okay."

"'Okay'?"

"Yeah, okay," Jay reaffirms.

"Okay, I'll talk to Ethan."

Before Jay can say anything else, Ruzek appears in the doorway of the breakroom, "Jay, we got a lead."

"I gotta go," Jay tells his brother before hanging up. Seconds later he gets a text from his brother, _I will let you what Ethan said tonight_.

Jay goes back into the bullpen to find out what their next move is. "Halstead and Upton, check out the aunt's place," Voight instructs. "And Upton, fill him in on the way."

* * *

The two detectives of the unit go to the parking lot, "So what's the case?" Jay asks as they are getting into the car.

"Home invasion. The whole family was murdered except for a teenaged girl who was sleeping over at her friend's house. She came home the next morning to find her family dead. The neighbor called 911 when she heard the girl's screams," Hailey fills him in.

Jay sighs hearing this.

"You okay?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah," Jay breathes.

"Some first day to come back to," Hailey comments.

* * *

"Do you want me to pick up for dinner tonight?" Hailey asks as they are leaving for the day.

"You pick," Jay tells her. "I'm still not that hungry," he adds when Hailey gives him a look.

"You have to eat," Hailey reminds him.

"I will," Jay promises as they reach their cars.

* * *

"Hey, boy," Jay greets when he gets home. Casper greets him excitedly, as he got used to Jay being home with him, when he walks through the door. "Come on, let's go out," Jay tells him as he clips on Casper's leash.

Casper happily walks around before doing what he needs to. Casper tries to lead Jay to go for a walk before he is stopped, "Not tonight," Jay tells the dog before leading him back inside.

Once inside, Jay gives Casper his dinner before going to find something to watch on the television. When Casper is done, he makes his way over to Jay and lays by his feet.

Jay dozes off on the couch and only wakes up when he hears Hailey knocking on his door. "Hey," he opens the door to let her in.

"Hey, you look tired," she comments going to his kitchen.

"Thanks," Jay replies sarcastically.

"We don't have to do this tonight-" Hailey tries to tell him.

"No, we lost a week. I want to get back into the swing of things," Jay argues.

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I am. What did you bring?"

"For Will and me, pizza. For you, I made more soup," Hailey answers.

"You didn't have to."

"You said you weren't hungry and I doubt that you would feel up to greasy pizza."

Before Jay can reply, they are interrupted by Will knocking at the door. Jay opens the door for him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Got held up with the paperwork."

"You're good. I brought pizza," Hailey tells him.

"You're amazing," Will states as he grabs a slice.

Hailey shakes her head and grabs plates for herself and Will, and a bowl and spoon for Jay.

"What did Ethan say?" Jay asks as they are eating their dinner.

"He talked to his friend, Nate, who works with K9s for Warriors, and said that Nate has a class Saturday morning, but he can stay after and he can work with you in the afternoon."

"Okay. Are you guys coming too?"

"Is that okay with you?" Will asks.

"We'll do what you're comfortable with," Hailey adds at the same time.

"I want you guys there."

Once the three finish their dinner they go out to his living room to work with Casper. "So we're going to keep working on having Casper wake you up. Jay down on the couch and see if Casper will lay on you."

Jay lays down, but Casper needs to be guided on what to do. Hailey can see that Jay is worried, "Hey, it's okay. This is only the second day we're doing this step," she reassures him, knowing he is thinking that it is his fault since they lost a week.

"Let's do it again," Will suggests. "Casper. Come here."

The three work with Casper until they start to lose Jay around ten. "Jay let's call it a night," Hailey suggests when she notices Jay starting to drift off on her.

"I'm good," he tells her.

"Jay, you're still recovering," Will reminds him. "It is getting late. We can pick this up next time."

Together, the two of them manage to convince Jay that they've done enough for one night before leaving.

* * *

Late Saturday morning, Will and Hailey meet at Jay's place so they can drive to the training facility in one car.

When Jay comes down with Casper, the three decide to let Will drive as he had the address. Hailey sits in the front to let Jay sit with Casper in the back.

"So, where are we going exactly?" Jay asks as he scratches Casper's head.

"K9s for Vets has a training facility in Cicero," Will tells him.

"K9s for Vets?"

"It's an organization that pairs service dogs with veterans," Hailey tells him. "I was looking in to before Casper and self-training. But their organization requires a three week, twenty-four-seven on-ground training program. Figured you wouldn't go for that," she adds.

"You're right I wouldn't," Jay verifies before turning to Will. "Cicero is less than half an hour. Why leave so early?"

"I didn't want to be late, in case there were problems getting a start."

"And now we're a little more than an hour early. What are we going to do now?" Jay adds.

"We can get lunch," Will suggests.

"Will, it's miserable out," Jay tells him.

"Jay, in Illinois the same laws that apply to service dogs apply to service dogs in training. You can take Casper in with you," Hailey tells him.

"What if people ask questions?" Jay asks anxiously.

"Jay, breathe," Will orders. "There are only two questions that people are allowed to ask someone with a service dog. The first one is: is this a service dog required because of a disability? And the second one is: what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Anything else is illegal," Will tells Jay.

"I don't have a disability," Jay argues.

"Your PTSD is a disability. But it's not who you are," Hailey tells him.

"We can go in somewhere or we can find a drive-through and eat in the car," Will tells him.

"Okay, we can try," Jay declares.

* * *

Will pulls into the parking lot of a small diner. They get out of the car and walk into the diner to be greeted by a young woman, who looks like she is in high school.

"Three?" She asks before noticing Casper. "Sir, dogs are not allowed."

"He's a service dog in training," Hailey tells her, seeing that Jay isn't saying anything.

"Service dog? He doesn't look disabled," she ignorantly states.

The three are shocked by her statement, but before any of them can say something a waiter walks over to them. "Jenny," he calls out. "ADA mandates that service animals are allowed in. Without question," he gives her a pointed look.

Jenny takes the hint and walks away, "I'm sorry about her, please don't judge the diner because of her."

"Thanks," Will is appreciative of the Hispanic man.

"Would you like a booth or a table?" he asks the group.

The three look at each other, "Jay, what is easiest for you with Casper?" Hailey asks.

"Probably table."

"Okay, follow me." He leads them over to a table that has plenty of room for Casper underneath. After taking their order of drinks, he asks, "Would you like a bowl of water for your dog?"

"Thanks," Jay speaks, shocked.

When he brings back their drinks he gives Jay the bowl of water to give to Casper, not wanting to distract the service dog.

Their lunch goes better than Jay thought it would, the waitress had been the only issue. There were a few other guests in the diner, but none caused any problems. Some cast short glances, but there were no comments.

When they go to leave, Will stops to talk with the man who helped them. "Thanks, for not making a scene like with that girl."

"Don't thank me for that. She is just uneducated," he explains.

"Still it means a lot to me that a stranger would defend my brother," Will elaborates before catching up with his brother and Hailey.

"Next stop, K9s for Vets training facility," Will announces when they are all in the car.


	19. Chapter 19: K9s for Vets and a Talk

"What happens now?" Jay asks when they get into the parking lot of the facility.

"Ethan said that Nate told him that he'd wait for us in the training room," Will answers.

"But what happens when we go in?" Jay elaborates.

"You probably talk with Nate about what tasks you want Casper to learn and then he might show us the best way to teach him," Will guesses.

"Do you want to walk around some?" Hailey asks, sensing jay getting anxious.

"I just want to get this over with," Jay answers her.

"We can go in now," Will tell him. "It might take us a while to find the room."

They get out of the car and walk towards the building. Jay follows Will, holding Casper's leash tightly in his right hand and Hailey is on his left.

Once inside of the building, Will starts following the signs to find the right room, used to navigating his way through different hospitals.

After wandering the halls for a few minutes, Will finds the room that they are looking for and opens the door. They see a group of ten, who all have dogs, surrounding two leaders of the group. The three of them and Casper stand against the back wall watching as Nate and the other instructor finish the group session.

* * *

Once the two finish their end of session speech most of the veterans leave the door going past the visitors, while a couple stay behind to talk to the instructors. As they pass to leave the room, Jay can see that some of them came home with physical trauma with amputations and prosthetics and others, like Jay, look okay physically but came home with psychological trauma.

When the two who are left leave, Nate walks over to the group. "Sorry about the wait," he apologizes.

"No problem," Will answers. "Thanks for taking the time to meet with my brother."

"Of course, why don't we go to the therapy room?"

"I'm not here for therapy," Jay interjects.

"Jay," Hailey chides.

"It's okay. The therapy room is where we do individual training sessions. It has more privacy and it houses different equipment that we may need. Follow me," Nate tells them.

Nate leads them to a room on the other side of the building. When they enter, the first thing that they notice is that the room is a decent size, about the size of the breakroom in the intelligence bullpen. Inside there is a medium-sized kitchen table, a couch, and a normal-sized refrigerator with a rope attached to the handle.

"So what happens now?" Jay asks as he looks around.

"Let's take a seat," Nate motions to the table. Will and Hailey do as they are told, and Jay reluctantly follows them.

"This looks like therapy to me," Jay states as Casper sits by his feet.

"Jay," this time it is Will to scold him.

"It's okay," Nate tells Will. "This isn't the first place anyone wants to be," Nate answers understandably before continuing, "I'm going to assume you're Jay," he tells him before looking to Will, "And you're the brother, Will?"

Both Halsteads nod.

"I'm sorry," Nate apologizes looking at Hailey, "Ethan didn't mention you. Are you his girlfriend?"

"No," Hailey tells him before introducing herself, "I'm Hailey- Jay's partner at work.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes for his assumption.

Hailey nods in acknowledgment.

"So, I was going to tell you a little about myself before we start. And if you want, you can tell me about yourself and if not we can go straight into what you want to get out of training your dog," Nate starts.

"Casper," Jay tells him, "His name is Casper."

"Okay, what you want to get out of Casper's training," Nate corrects himself. "So, my name is Nate and I was in the Navy. My rank was Lieutenant Commander, I served for ten years before retiring to spend more time with my family. I started volunteering here because I wanted to help vets who were having difficulty adjusting, like how Conrad helped me- to pay it forward in a way," Nate finishes.

"Jay Halstead, Army. 3rd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment," Jay offers.

"Okay, so I just want to ask a couple of questions before we get started," Nate tells him.

Jay gives him a wearily look but doesn't say anything.

"Are you training Casper by yourself or do you have help?"

"Hailey and Will are helping me."

"Does anyone else know about Casper?"

"Our team knows about him, they just don't know that Jay and I are training his to be a service dog," Hailey answers.

"And you have a support system?"

"He has us," Will answers, wanting his brother to know he means it.

"That's good. Having a support system is always a good thing," Nate comments. "So, Ethan told me that you are owner-training Casper. What tasks are you planning on teaching him and have you started on any of them yet?" he asks.

"Um, waking during nightmares, grounding during a flashback…" Jay looks to Will and Hailey for help.

"Intervention with sensory overload, guiding during a dissociative episode and getting help if needed. Though the last two are precautionary," Hailey adds helping Jay.

"Hailey and Jay have been working on the waking from nightmares with Casper for about two months now," Will tells Nate.

"Okay. How old was Casper when you started training him?"

"Eight months. The guy I got him from said he was the runt, but healthy and the vet said he was always going to be on the smaller side," Jay answers.

Nate nods his head, "How much progress have you made with the waking from nightmares?"

"Casper will lay on top of Jay, we just need to work on him putting pressure on Jay and when he needs to do that task."

"Okay. Do you need any tips for that or do you think you're okay?"

"I think we're okay. I found a good video that broke down how to train that tasks, step-by-step," Hailey answers.

"Okay. Jay, what happens during a flashback?"

"A flashback is a flashback," Jay tells him.

"The few that I've seen, he gets lost. He doesn't realize where he is or what his surroundings are," Hailey tells Nate. This information surprises Will, but he does his best not to show it.

"Have you ever tried to hurt yourself during a flashback? Maybe clawed at yourself?"

"No," Jay answers. Hailey nods in agreement.

"Okay, so it sounds like you disassociate during a flashback," Nate states receiving a nod in confirmation from the trio. "Then, what you want to train Casper to do is train Casper pull your attention to the present. This would be with grounding and intervention, it can be from licking to nibbling at you. Anything that he can reach, your hand, ear, arm, face, you decide what works best for you."

Nate slows down and waits for Hailey, who has started taking notes. "What about the last two?" Hailey asks when she is finished writing.

"With guiding, normally you want your service dog to heel, but in this case, you want your dog to lead you. It may be home or it may be to somewhere where you are able to get help. This may be anywhere where there are people who are able to help. I would suggest having something attached to Casper, a small pouch, somewhere that you can keep a contact list for your brother and partner. That way there is a way to contact someone to help."

"This is a bit similar to getting help, only in this instance, Jay is most likely going to be unresponsive- unconscious- Casper will leave Jay in order to get help. Go to people until he can get someone to follow him back to Jay."

Hailey is once again taking notes on what to do.

* * *

The next few hours are used to physically go over how to work these tasks. When the group is done, Nate walks them out of the facility. The brothers are in front while Nate pulled Hailey back some.

He looks up to see that Jay is distracted before he speaks, "Here is my card. I know that he's not ready to talk now, but if he ever is, give me a call. There's a support group here, all vets are welcomed or even if he wants to talk to someone outside of a support group."

"Thanks," Hailey is surprised by his offer.

Parting ways, Will and Hailey both thank Nate for helping, while Hay gives him a polite nod, still a bit overwhelmed by the day.

On the way back to Jay's apartment, the three talk about what they thought each one voicing that it was beneficial, even Jay who remains pretty quiet.

* * *

Arriving at Jay's apartment building, Will receives a phone call. "Sorry guys. I have to go into work," Will apologizes. "They need more hands."

"Go, you're good," Hailey tells him.

"Sorry I kept you all day," Jay apologizes.

"Hey, don't apologize. They just called now," Will looks to Hailey, silently asks that she keep an eye on Jay.

She nods, "We'll be fine," she assures him.

* * *

Walking inside of his apartment they go to his couch. "Jay, we need to talk about before," Hailey tells him.

"About what?" He asks, hand lazily scratching Casper's head.

"About what happened when you were sick," Hailey tells him.

"Sorry I got sick," Jay apologizes, thinking she was mad about that.

"Hey, it's not that you got sick. You couldn't help that. It's about something that you said while you were sick."

"Can't we chalk up whatever I said to the fever."

"No, because if I learned anything from being your partner, it's that the truth comes out of you when you're either drunk or running a fever." Jay remains silent so Hailey takes this as permission to continue. "You said you would have been fine on your own, but if the positions were reversed, you would have done the same. Why do you think it is different for us?"

"Because I deserved to get sick. I didn't get the flu shot, it was my own fault. And I ended up being a burden on you and Will- more than what I normally am."

"First thing's first: You are not a burden- ever. Do you understand?"

"I guess."

"The second thing is: Even with the flu shot, you still could have gotten sick, so stop blaming yourself."

"Lastly, why did you forgive me so easily when I made you feel bad about the stupid joke about the flu shot," Hailey asks.

"I didn't want you mad at me- if I didn't say it was okay."

"I wouldn't have been mad. I would have understood. Jay, I made you feel worse because of a bad joke when you were already feeling bad," Hailey pauses, letting that sink into his thick head. "I know I don't know a lot about your childhood, but I know that something happened to make you think of yourself as a burden and that is _not_ true. Will told me that if what happened to you then was happening now, it would be considered emotional abuse."

"What did he tell you?"

"Nothing that I didn't already know, you having a rocky relationship with your dad is an understatement. But, back to my original point, you are not a burden. Not to anyone, especially me and Will. And if someone says you are, then they aren't good enough to be in your life. Will and I will tell you however many times you need to hear it to believe us, but it's the truth, so I don't want to hear you apologize for that ever again."

Jay is silent, trying to figure out what she is trying to say; there has to be something that she is hinting at underneath her speech.

"Jay? Do you understand me? We never want you to feel like that."

Jay nods, finally realizing there is no hidden message, that she is telling the truth. "Yeah."

"Are we good?"

"We're good," he answers.

"What did you think about what Nate showed us?" Hailey asked.

"It was a lot. Do you still think we can do this?"

"I have no doubt," Hailey confirms. "We're a team, the four of us can do it."


	20. Chapter 20: Birthday

Two months after the visit to the training center and her talk with Jay, Hailey can see a difference in her partner. He doesn't seem to be beating himself up as much and the progress he is making with his training with Casper is great; it's like they are each other's other half.

After talking with Nate, they decided to wait a while longer before they start on another task. Casper now lays on top of Jay without the help of a treat. The next step is to get Casper to recognize when Jay is having a nightmare.

Hailey looks up from her computer to see Jay focused on whatever is on his own computer. It is actually quiet, Voight is at headquarters in some meeting and Kevin and Adam went to talk to a CI, leaving only the girls and Jay in the bullpen.

Hailey's phone rings breaking the silence of the room.

"Upton," she answers. "Okay, thanks, Natalie." Hailey hangs up the phone before grabbing Jay's attention. "Victim woke up, want to take a ride?"

Jay nods his head, before getting up and following Hailey out of the bullpen.

* * *

Arriving at Med, Natalie leads the two detectives to the room. Since the victim was a young woman, Jay lets Hailey take the lead when they enter the room.

"Hi, I'm detective Upton and this is detective Halstead. Do you mind if we asked a few questions?" Hailey asks while Jay hangs back not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

"I don't know if I'll be any help, but okay."

"Do you remember anything about the person who attacked you and your friend?" Hailey asks.

"Um, he was wearing a hoodie, I thought that was weird."

"Did you see any identifying marks? Tattoos? Scars? Piercings?" Hailey asks.

"I think there was a tattoo on his neck. I couldn't tell what it was though, his skin was too dark."

"He was black?"

"No, he had darker skin, but it was more olive, maybe. I didn't get a look at his face, I would have a better idea of a nationality if I did. I'm sorry."

"No, no. you're doing good. Do you think you could tell how tall he was?"

"Close to your height," she says while pointing to Jay.

"You did good," Hailey tells her, thanking her for the help before leaving with Jay.

"Do you think that helped much?" Jay asks as they walk the halls to the exit.

"It's more than what we had before," Hailey answers him.

* * *

By the end of the day, the team is ready to get out of the office.

"What is everyone doing tonight?" Adam asks the team as they leave.

"My sister is in town so I'm going to catch dinner with her," Kim answers first.

"I don't have any plans, just finding something on Netflix," Vanessa adds.

"I was just going to catch the Cubs game," Kevin tells Adam.

"What about you two?" Adam asks the two detectives.

"Will is stopping by my place with Kohl," Jay answers.

"Just go home and relax," Hailey answers.

"Is anyone up for Molly's?" Adam asks.

Vanessa and Kevin agree while Hailey gives him a _maybe_.

As they walk out of the district to their cars, Hailey pulls Jay to the side, "Is everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"Has Will ever brought Kohl to your place since you got Casper?"

"No."

"Why now? You've had him for nine months now?"

"I was looking at his paperwork the other day, turns out today is his birthday," Jay tells her.

"Jay!" Hailey slaps his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have gotten him something."

"That's why I didn't tell you," Jay tells her. "You can come too if you want, that is- if you're not sick of us."

"Never," Hailey smiles as they head in the direction of their respective cars.

* * *

Later that night, the two brothers and Hailey along with the two dogs are in Jay's apartment.

Will opens a white tasty cake and puts a candle in it. Jay holds Casper so he doesn't get hurt by the flame, Casper's training taught him not to take food, but Jay isn't taking any chances. The three sing _happy birthday_ to Casper.

Before Jay blows it out for Casper, Hailey takes a picture of Jay and Casper with the tasty cake in front of them.

Once the candle is safely off of the treat, Jay lets Casper eat the tasty cake. When Casper finishes, Will gives Casper a new toy and Hailey gives him a new bone adding to the toy that Jay got him. "I told you guys you didn't have to get him anything," Jay tells them.

"We wanted to," is the simple answer that they reply in unison.

"Thanks," Jay replies, not knowing what else to say.

"Here, this is for you," Will tells Jay as he hands him a vest. "I ordered for your birthday, but it didn't come in time. I figured that since Casper is just about done growing you can get a vest without worrying about him outgrowing it. You can use it when you're ready," Will tells him, knowing his brother isn't ready for a lot of people to know.

The vest is the same blue as Casper's collar. In a bag Will had several different patches for Jay to attach: _Service Dog, Service Dog In Training, Do Not Distract, Service Dog No Touch No Talk No Eye Contact, Ignore Me I'm Working, PTSD Service Dog Do Not Distract_, _We Are A Team Forever, Access Required By Law No Exceptions _and _Not All Disabilities Are Visible_.

"You can pick which patches you want to use when you start using it," Will tells him.

"Thanks," Jay whispers looking at the patch that says _Not All Disabilities Are Visible_.

Will notices what he is looking at, "I like that one too."

Hailey rubs Jay's back, "You okay with this?"

"Yeah, it just makes it real. I'm training my dog to be a PTSD service dog. What will people think of a cop with a PTSD service dog?"

"It doesn't matter what they think. You're a good cop and you're good at your job. That's all that matters," Hailey tells him.

"Hailey's right," Will supports. "You have my support and you have Hailey's support. You don't need to listen to anyone else."

"When you decide to tell the team, they will support you too," Hailey adds.

"Not yet," Jay tells her.

"Okay. You're in control, as far as they know, Casper is just your average dog," Hailey reassures.

"Thanks," Jay says, his facial expression saying more than his actual words.

"You know, it has to be fate that your dog's birthday is on Flag Day," Will comments.

"They were meant to be," Hailey smiles.

"June 14 is a pretty good day for it, isn't it?" Jay asks getting nods in return. "Happy birthday, boy," Jay tells Casper, giving him a good belly rub.


	21. Chapter 21: Independance Day

Two weeks have passed since Casper's birthday, it is now early July and the city is getting ready for the Fourth of July. Casper's training has continued to be smooth, Jay isn't having as many nightmares and the few he does, Casper wakes him by licking his face.

Jay knows that that isn't the way Casper should be waking him, but they are still training him, so he lets it go for now.

Jay is brought out of his thoughts when he hears Ruzek talk to the team to convince them to see the holiday fireworks before leaving for the day. "Come on guys, we actually have off that day so we can make it a team thing."

"Sounds good." Kim and Kevin quickly agree, the three of them being close.

"It sounds like fun," Vanessa adds, having not had the opportunity for such trivial gathering in her youth.

"What about you two?" Ruzek asks the two detectives.

"I don't want to leave Casper by himself," Jay tells Ruzek using his dog as an excuse.

"You can bring him. We'll be in a park- it's dog friendly," Ruzek tells him. "Come on, the team never hangs out outside of work," he continues not aware that his teammate- a former Army Ranger- might not be as excited as the rest of them about the fireworks.

"Fine," Jay answers begrudgingly.

"Awesome. What about you Hailey?" Ruzek asks, oblivious to Jay's demeanor.

Hailey looks to Jay with concern in her eyes before answering Ruzek, "Okay," she agrees.

Happy that he managed to get them all to agree, Ruzek walks away hoping to get out before being stuck with more paperwork.

Once Ruzek and the others are out of hearing distance, Hailey turns to Jay. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asks. "You don't have to go. I can tell them that you got sick," Hailey offers.

"I can't avoid my triggers forever. Maybe it won't be as bad with Casper there," Jay replies.

"Okay, but if you change your mind…"

"Thanks. Are you still coming over?"

"Yeah. Is Will coming too or is he working?" Hailey wonders.

"He's not working, but I told him I didn't want him to come today."

"Why not?"

"I'll explain later," Jay answers, not wanting the others to overhear seeing as they still don't know the real reason he got Casper.

"Okay…" Hailey draws out.

* * *

"So, do you want to tell me why you told Will not to come tonight and why he's actually listening to you?" Hailey asks when she arrives at his place for Casper's training.

"Because it's embarrassing," Jay vaguely answers.

"What's embarrassing?" Hailey asks softly, not wanting Jay to close up on her.

"This step. It's bad enough that you're going to see what it looks like when I have a nightmare. I don't need Will to see that too."

"Jay, we've both seen you have nightmares before- it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah, but you can leave anytime. Will's all I have left."

"I'm not leaving. And I would never judge you and I know for a fact Will wouldn't either. Everything that you've been through and everything you've seen- both here and overseas… it's normal."

Jay remains silent.

"Okay, do you want to get started?"

"Yeah," Jay answers, laying down on the couch.

"Okay, pretend you're having a nightmare," Hailey orders.

Jay starts to move around as if he is having a nightmare. Hailey lets go of Casper's collar and he climbs on top of Jay. Casper lays on top of him and starts licking his face.

Both Hailey and Jay praise the puppy. After forcing Casper off of Jay they repeat the same step.

* * *

Saturday night the team arrives at their designated meeting place for the fireworks. Kim, Kevin and Adam arrive together and Hailey, Vanessa, Jay and Casper ride in Hailey's car. Hailey's reasoning is that she doesn't know if Jay will be in a condition to drive after the fireworks are over.

Hailey only told Vanessa that Jay needed a ride on the way to pick him up and she went along with it, keeping to herself her suspicion about the two of them.

The team meets up and settles down on the blankets that only Kim and Hailey thought to bring. Since they arrived a couple of hours ahead of time to make sure they got a decent spot for the show they break into different groups. Kevin and Adam find space to throw a football, while Jay takes Casper somewhere where they can play fetch without bothering anyone. The girls on the other hand just sit and watch as the boys mess around.

"Have you noticed a change in Jay the last few months?" Kim asks.

"What do you mean?" Hailey plays dumb, wanting to see what their colleague noticed.

"I don't know exactly, but he seems lighter, happier. He doesn't look like he's being haunted by the past."

"I think having Casper really helped. He's that person who likes to deal with things on his own, but it's like dogs have this ability to help people heal," Hailey comments.

As it gets closer to the start of the display, the guys come back to the blankets. Jay and Casper take a seat near Hailey and she gives Jay a look that the others don't notice.

The fireworks start off slow, but quickly pick up. They become louder and louder until they start to shake the ground.

Jay can feel his heart racing and his breathing quickens. Hailey notices and calls Casper, " Casper, help your dad," she tells him, glad that Casper isn't fazed by the fireworks like a lot of dogs are, the others too preoccupied to notice Jay.

Casper climbs up onto Jay, nuzzling his nose onto Jay and licking anything that he can reach. Jay notices Casper and starts stroking his head, using Casper as a distraction from the sound.

The finale is nerve-wracking for Jay, but Casper is able to keep him grounded.

When the show is over, four officers are too distracted by talking about the show to see that Jay is shaken. Hailey uses this to help Jay semi-recover from the show. "How are you?"

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," he answers.

"Are you going to be okay tonight or do you want me to crash on your couch?"

"I'm okay. Even if I'm not, Casper has my back."

"Okay, but call if you need anything." Jay nods. "Vanessa, come on. I want to get home before tomorrow," Hailey tells her referring to the holiday traffic they will surely be stuck in.

The group breaks up to their respective cars. Hailey drops Jay and Casper off before going to her own home with Vanessa.

Going to bed, Hailey thinks about how well Jay handled the fireworks, her heart telling her Casper is just what Jay needed.

* * *

**A/N: Do you want to see the training or do you want training to be thrown in randomly? I don't want you to feel like the story is slow.**


	22. Chapter 22: Debrief, New Task, & Forever

The next night, Hailey arrives at Jay's for their training session a little earlier than planned, so she can talk with Jay about what happened at the fireworks without Will there. No matter how good Jay got about opening up to both her and Will, Jay is still somewhat closed off to his brother, maybe the fear that he is going to see his brother differently if he really knew what was going on inside his head.

"Hailey?" Jay questions when he opens the door. "Did I get the time wrong?" he asks noting that she is an hour early.

"No, I just wanted to talk about last night before Will gets here."

"What about last night?" he asks as he lets her into the apartment.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing. We didn't get a chance to talk after," Hailey comments as they walk to his couch where Casper is laying on his nest of blankets that Jay keeps for him.

"There's not much to talk about. Fireworks are a trigger, but I can't avoid them here. It's almost impossible," Jay tells her.

"But did having Casper help?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah. At first… it felt like I was back in Afghanistan, caught in a firefight. But when Casper came over to me- it was like… it just made me know I was safe, in Chicago. Like my sense of touch overpowered my PTSD. I don't know if this makes sense, but it's how it felt," Jay tells her.

"No, no. It makes sense. I'm glad this is working for you,"

"Me too."

"Now, what Casper did last night was without training. So I think that once we start on that, it can only improve," Hailey suggests hopefully.

"When are we going to start training him for that? I mean since we decided to push it back some," Jay asks curiously.

"Well, we're nearing the final step of this task, I was thinking in the next week or two, if that's okay with you."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Casper is your dog and this is training for the both of you. I don't want to do something if you think it will be too much for either of you."

"No, I think we'll be good. And if not, we can just stop."

"That sounds good. Do you want to talk about anything before Will gets here?"

"No. I mean, there's nothing going on other than what we already talked about that I don't really want Will to hear."

"Okay. I want to ask you something before Will gets here," Hailey tells him.

"What's up?"

"Do you think Casper is helping?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah, I mean last night would have been a lot worse, had he not been there. And I haven't had as many nightmares in the last few months. Why?"

"I just wanted to see what you thought. I've noticed a change in you– a good one. So has Will, and last night, before the fireworks, Kim said that you looked lighter, happier, and less haunted," Hailey tells him.

"What did you say to her?" Jay asks, afraid his secret slipped.

"That you suffer in silence, but dogs have magic healing powers," Hailey smiles.

"Thanks, for not telling her."

"Jay, that's not my news to tell. They aren't going to find out from me," she promises.

Jay just looks down and nods.

Hailey turns on the sports highlights to cut the tension.

* * *

A half an hour later Will arrives after his shift at Med. Hailey jumps right in to show Will what they are doing. She stands up so Jay can lay on the couch. "Jay, pretend you're having a nightmare," she orders him.

Jay does as he is told. It takes a little nudging, but Casper does what he should, by laying on top of Jay and putting pressure on him.

They reset and run through it for half an hour before deciding to take a break to eat.

"So how did you do with the fireworks last night?" Will asks. "I would have come over and sat with you, but fireworks make people stupid and Med needed all hands on deck last night."

"It was okay," Jay answers. "Ruzek more or less forced the team to see the fireworks together at a park."

"Did something happen?"

"I started to have some flashbacks or maybe a panic attack, but Casper kept me focused," Jay tells him.

"He did good," Hailey adds. "The both of them. Casper was able to keep Jay distracted and that is without training him to ground Jay."

"So having Casper around is helping?"

"Yeah, it's like he knows when I need him."

"Dogs have good instincts."

"So since Casper did so good with Jay last night, I was thinking we could try the grounding technique," Hailey tosses out there.

"Okay, how do we do that one?" Jay asks.

"I was thinking to start out– have you sit on the floor and sink into yourself. That way Casper can start out where it's easy to see that you look distressed."

"Okay, you know what you're doing better than me," Jay replies as the three of them are walking to his living room.

Jay sits on the floor and bends his knees to his chest wrapping his arms around his legs and placing his head down on his knees. Hailey then uses the training treats to get Casper to get Jay out of his ball.

Casper nudges at Jay using his nose to push at him until his arms loosen and he can get to Jay's face and lick him. Casper is praised by the three humans.

They repeat this several times over the next hour before going back to laying on top of Jay while he is pretending to have a nightmare.

Casper transitions between the two tasks well. Working on this task for another half an hour before deciding to call it quits for the night.

Hailey leaves first, knowing that the two brothers need to talk about why Jay didn't want Will there the night before.

* * *

Once the door shuts, Will asks, "Are you going to tell me why you asked me not to come last time?"

"Hailey and I talked about it," Jay starts.

"Do you want to tell me what thee two of you talked about?"

"I was embarrassed, that's why I didn't want you to come."

"Embarrassed about what?"

"I have to pretend to have a nightmare for this last step," Jay says like it explains everything while petting Casper.

"You didn't want me to see you pretending to have a nightmare?" Will guesses.

Jay nods, "I didn't want you to think of me differently because of that."

"Jay, you're my little brother. I'm never going to think of you differently. You've been through so much in your life, I'd be surprised if you didn't get nightmares. And you're stuck with me, I'm not leaving you again," Will adds, knowing his brother's unspoken fear.

"Hailey said almost the exact same thing," Jay comments.

"Great minds think alike."

Jay gives a smile so small, that it is practically undetectable. Will doesn't notice, if Hailey hadn't left yet, she might have just seen it. But he smiles because he is finally starting to see: no matter what happens, his brother and partner are always going to stick by him.

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to try to post for this fic in the middle of the week, since "A to Z" is posted on Saturdays so they are a little spread out for the readers who read both stories. Stay safe and healthy.**


	23. Chapter 23: One Year

Hailey, Jay, and Will continue to work on the two tasks with Casper, waiting for him to master the first one before starting the third task. Three months pass since the fireworks episode, it is now September and has been a year since Jay got Casper.

"So, I think Casper is starting to get the hang of the first task," Hailey comments as the two walk Casper through the park. "He does well during the training sessions, how does he do at night?"

"He does okay. I haven't had as many nightmares since I got him, but when I do, he licks my face until I wake up," Jay tells her.

"That's good," Hailey comments on the decrease in his nightmares.

"You know I've had him for a year now?" Jay asks.

"I know," Hailey smiles. "You were so… upset and angry when I took you to get Casper and we met Will there. But I would do it again if I had to," Hailey remembers.

"I'm sorry I was mad at you," Jay apologizes.

"It's in the past, besides, it was worth it," Hailey tells him. "I have seen such a change in you since you got him. Even Kim and Vanessa have noticed, they both said something along the lines of you looking less stressed since you got him. And Will says he can see the you there was before going to war."

"You know, I never thought I would have a dog. I mean I always wanted one but with our hours, it just didn't seem like it would be fair to the dog, but with Casper, I make it work. And he doesn't seem bothered with our hours."

"Jay, if you told Voight why you have Casper, you could bring him to work with you," Hailey carefully tells him.

"I'm not ready for that. I don't want to say anything to jeopardize my job. Would you trust a cop with PTSD? A cop who has a service dog?"

"I trust you. Your PTSD doesn't define your ability to be a cop, neither does you having Casper."

Before Jay can say anything Casper starts pulling on his leash. "What is it boy?" Jay asks since Casper never pulls on his walks.

Casper keeps pulling until the two detectives follow him. The dog leads them to a wooded area of the park, where a young boy is hiding. The boy can't be more than four years old, he has blood on his shirt; he cowards when he sees the dog and two detectives.

Hailey crouches down to his level, "Hi, Hailey and this is my friend Jay. We're the police," she tells him while pulling out her shield that's in her wallet. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Riley," the boy whispers.

"Riley, do you know your last name?" Hailey asks. Riley shakes his head. "What happened? How did you get blood on you?"

"I don't know."

"I'm going to call it in," Jay tells her.

"Okay, wait. He's not hurt- the blood isn't his," Hailey tells Jay.

Jay nods letting Hailey know he heard. "This is 5021 George, I'm off duty at Lincoln Park. There is a tender-aged boy lost with blood on him. No physical injuries noted."

"Copy, 5021 George. I'm sending a unit to your location. They should be there in five minutes."

Turing to Hailey, Jay relays the information before praising Casper for finding the boy.

* * *

Shortly after the patrol unit arrives to their location, Voight is close behind. "What do you got?" he asks the two, not at all fazed that his two detectives are together at the park with Jay's dog.

"Casper found him," Jay tells their boss. "The only thing that we got out of him is his name is Riley. He doesn't know his last name or his parents' names."

Voight turns to the officer in charge of the scene, "Intelligence is taking this case."

"Sarge are you-"

"Take the boy back to the district and see if you can get anything else out of him. I'll notify the rest of the unit," Voight interrupts her. "You can bring your dog too, he might open up with him there," Voight adds looking at Jay.

The two detectives look at each other before going to Jay's truck. Jay holding Casper's leash and Hailey carrying the boy.

As Jay drives to the district the ride is silent, Jay being extra careful since the boy should be in a car seat. The two trying to comprehend the turn of events of their day.

When they arrive at the district, Jay gets Casper out of the truck while Hailey once again gets the boy.

"Halstead," Sergeant Platt yells when she sees the four of them walk in. "What is that dog doing in my district?"

"Voight said it was fine. Casper found the boy," Jay tells her as they make their way up to the intelligence bullpen.

Once upstairs, the detectives take Riley into the break room. Getting Riley settled on the couch, Jay crouches down in front of him like Hailey did at the park.

Riley is calm with Casper, but still unable to give the two any useful information. They stay in the breakroom with Riley until they hear the rest of the team make their appearance known in the bullpen.

Jay and Hailey leave the boy in the breakroom to catch the other up to what they know.

"Why is your dog here?" Adam asks.

"He found the boy while we were at the park and Voight told me to bring him here. Thought we could use him to get Riley to open up."

* * *

The team spends most of the day trying to figure out what happened to the boy. They finally are able to gather enough information as to where Riley lives to head over there to check it out.

Arriving at the house, the team is able to figure out that Riley must have woken up from a nap to find his parents dead on the floor of the kitchen. Coming to the conclusion that he must of tried to wake his parents before running out of the house and hiding in the park where Casper found him.

Hailey and Jay are the last to leave the district, wanting to make sure everything with DCFS went okay. Once they know he is safely with them the two leave for Hailey's apartment, knowing that the others went out to Molly's. leaving them alone for a while.

"He's going to be okay," Jay reminds Hailey as they walk into her house. "He's only with a foster family for a day or two until his aunt can get here."

"I know, but still, losing your parents and then the only place that you know as home. He's going to be traumatized," Hailey replies as she hands Jay the bowls that she got for when he brought Casper to her house along with some dog food that he gave her for occasions like this.

"His aunt sounded worried about him. That's a good thing. It means he'll be well looked after."

"Yeah, but it doesn't make it any easier," Hailey answers as she grabs them two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, pouring them each a glass.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I wanted to have this chapter out on Wednesday, but with the end of the semester coming up and the change to distance-learning, classes and life got in the way. For those of you who also read "A to Z," the next chapter is going up as scheduled. I'm currently writing chapter three of the Deaf Jay Fic. I want to have at least seven or eight chapters pre-written before I start posting that one, so I will probably start posting that one in mid-May or early June. Regarding "Rock Bottom," after watching the most recent episode of CBS's S.W.A.T., titled "Stigma," I was motivated to continue that story, but it probably won't be updated until I finish either this or "A to Z." As of right now, I have no plan on ending "Man's Best Friend" anytime soon. I will write this one as long as people are interested and I can keep it fresh for you all; if all goes as planned, "A to Z" will end mid-July. I want each story that I work on to have the attention and dedication from me that it deserves, so I will never have more than three active stories at a time. Stay safe and hopefully, the next chapter will be up next Wednesday.**


	24. Chapter 24: Thankful

**A/N: I want to address a review that I got on the last chapter. I am addressing it here, in case others have the same question. This reviewer stated that I need to "remember those little things, especially when it's not so little." This is referring to the fact that both Platt and Ruzek question why Jay brought Casper to the district when the leash wrap would let them know he is a service dog. As brought up in chapter 23, Jay is still not ready for the rest of the team or people who he works with to know that he is training Casper to be a service dog. This being said, though it was not explicitly stated, Jay will often take off the leash wrap or hide if from sight, like when Kim first saw Casper when they stopped at Jay's place so he could let him out, when he is around people he works with, with the exception of Hailey. They are still in the dark as Jay is afraid that they will treat him differently/not trust him in the field if they knew he had a service dog. He has the mentality that it is a weakness, something that he should be ashamed of and is working on overcoming it. You all will know when the rest of the team finds out about Casper being a service dog, it will be its own chapter. There is also no "special leash", he has a regular leash that happens to have something on it to indicate that Casper is in training and is not to be disturbed.**

**Also, pay attention to details, the reviewer pointed out that after having Casper for a year he should be fully trained on two if not three tasks depending on what they are. Even though he has had Casper for a year, he did not start training him right away. He did not start training until Casper was eight months old. In the last chapter, Casper would be around fifteen months old, meaning he would be in training for about seven months. I have done a lot of research before I started this story and continued to research the topic on service dogs after I published it. I want to make it as accurate as possible because I feel like this topic deserves the accurate information. It is something that most people know little about and I want to be able to represent it properly. This means looking at how real-life organizations for service dogs work; this is true that K9s for Warriors has a three-week residential training requirement. Also, the fact that by going through organizations, there is an application that needs to be filled out and a waitlist (16-18 months) and the dog would be assigned based on what the vet needs, not the vet picking out what dog they like (as I saw in another fic). From research, a dog is not a "service dog in training" until they reach between six and twelve months of age, before then they are considered "Service dog candidates" or "puppy candidates". While a candidate they learn core skills, like what Jay was working on in chapter 4. Training takes 18 to 24 months, so that would mean Casper would be 26 to 32 months or just over 2 years before he is trained. Because I chose to have Jay and Hailey owner-train him, it will be on the longer side of training him. While there is a strict schedule of training, Jay is careful not to put too much pressure on Casper because if a dog is not mentally mature enough they can burn out and fail as a service dog. I pay attention to the detail that goes into each of my stories, having created a word doc for each story to keep track of the chapters. Details as small as what month it is so when holidays or sports are mentioned there is no conflict with time jumps. Details are important to me so I use this so there are no inconsistencies. Details also include what breeds make the best service dogs and what breeds make the best service dog for different types of assistance, in this case, PTSD; they also include using real locations in Chicago. I am not from Chicago, but I do my best to use real names of places in Chicago; I might be wrong where they are geographically, but I do try my best. Like K9s for Vets that there went to- at least according to Google Maps there is a K9s for Vets in Cicero, I was creative in what Jay and Co. did while there, but it is a location.**

**The last comment I want to address is the length of my chapters. In this story they range from 1,000 and 3,000 words, the majority being between 1,200 and 1,600. I feel like this is a good length if this story is getting updated once a week and is not pre-written. I try to keep my chapters consistent in size within each story ("It's Just the Flu" ~2,000 per chapter; "A to Z" ~3,000 per chapter (PRE-WRITTEN); "Rock Bottom" ~1,000 per chapter). If I were to make them longer, it wouldn't be weekly updates. With longer chapters, it would possibly be months between updates. I also want to take into consideration for those whose mind wanders with longer chapters and for people who may not speak English for a first language, I don't want to throw a lot at them at once. My chapters will NEVER be under 1,000 words.**

**Sorry for the long authors note, but I wanted to explain the last chapter, though I don't need to explain myself, I wanted to make sure more readers weren't confused. To make up for it, here is a longer chapter of about 2,700 words.**

* * *

"So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Hailey asks Jay when they are in the break room both wanting to grab some more coffee.

"Nothing special. Will has work so it's just Casper and me," Jay tells her as he pours his coffee.

"Come over and bring Casper. Kim's sister can't make it back so Kim is by herself, Kevin's alone, Vanessa doesn't have family and Adam's family is in the middle of some argument, so he's not doing anything," Hailey informs Jay. "We can do a potluck style."

"Are you sure you don't mind Casper?"

"Jay, he's probably the best behaved dog that I know."

"Did the others already agree?"

"Yes, why?"

"Are they going to mind having Casper there?"

"What are you talking about? This isn't like it's the first time they're meeting him."

"The other times, we were outside. It's different when there's a limited amount of space."

"It will be fine," Hailey tells him, pausing between each word hoping it will stick in his head that way.

Before either has much time to think about it, Ruzek pokes his head into the break room. "Hey, Vasquez's car was caught on a traffic light heading towards Little Village," he tells them before disappearing.

"We're finishing this conversation later," Hailey tells Jay before the two follow Ruzek, forgetting about their coffee.

* * *

Hailey and Jay take off to Little Village in Jay's truck, hoping to be able to find Vasquez. Vasquez is a little fish in this operation, but they are hoping that they will be able to flip him.

Hailey spots him and has Jay pull over willing Vasquez to do something so they can bring him in.

As luck would have it for the intelligence unit, they see him selling heroin to a ratty looking man. As soon as the exchange is complete, Hailey and Jay jump out of his truck to make the arrest. "Miguel Vasquez, you are under arrest for the possession and distribution of a Schedule I narcotic," Hailey tells him as Jay roughly cuffs him after a short chase.

The two lead him to Jay's truck where he is thrown into the back and brought back to the district to be put into an interrogation room.

* * *

In the end, Vasquez flips quickly after being in the interrogation room with Halstead and Ruzek, the two hothead of the team, for five minutes with the threat of being thrown in the cage with Voight.

The team is just finishing up on paperwork for the night when Voight comes out of his office, "Call it a day. You can finish the rest of your paperwork in the morning."

A chorus of _thanks, Sarge_ is heard through the bullpen, followed by the footsteps of most of the team leaving. Hailey looks over to Jay who is still on his computer, "Hey, come on. We need to finish that talk."

"No, I want to finish this before I leave and then I need to get back to Casper."

"No. You can finish this tomorrow and bring Casper to my place. I'll get the pizza and beers– Vanessa is going out. His training is tomorrow anyway, figure out where we think he is. I think Casper is pretty good with waking you, we can talk about what task you want to work on with him now."

"Are you sure she's going out. I don't want her to find out."

"I'm sure. She stays out late," Hailey promises as she manages to get Jay to leave the bullpen.

"Okay. Do I need to bring more food for Casper?"

"I have enough for tonight, but I'm not sure about the next time."

"I'll bring some more tonight. Are you sure you don't want me to pick up the pizza? I'm already out."

"You have Casper. Just bring him, I already have the beer and I will pick up the pizza on the way home."

"I can pick it up on my way over," Jay offers again.

"Stop arguing with me and get your dog," Hailey tells him pushing him towards his truck.

"Okay, okay. See you in a half hour?"

"Yes," Hailey laughs before getting in her own car.

* * *

Jay walks into his apartment to be greeted by the excited pup. "Hey, boy. Do you want to see Hailey?" Jay asks. Jay gets his answer when the dog starts running circles around Jay.

Jay clips on Casper's leash to let him out before bringing him back in. Casper looks at Jay like, _you tricked me_. "We'll go soon," Jay promises.

Jay goes into his bathroom to take a quick shower to wash off the day's grime of chasing criminals before going to Hailey's. Walking out of his bathroom, Jay almost trips over Casper who settled in front of the door, not wanting to be forgotten.

"Okay, we're going," Jay tells him once he is changed. He puts Casper's leash on again and leads him out of the apartment.

* * *

Hailey opens the door for them when she sees Jay's truck. "Perfect timing, the pizza just came," Hailey tells Jay.

Hailey lets them in, leading the two to the kitchen where she put the pizza. Jay goes to where he know Hailey keeps her set of bowls for Casper and his food so he can feed him while Hailey grabs plates for their pizza.

After making sure that Casper is taken care of, Jay grabs a slice of pizza for himself while Hailey grabs them both a beer from her fridge. "So have you thought any more about Thanksgiving?" Hailey asks as they sit at the island in her kitchen.

"Not really. I mean, from what I can tell, the girls are okay with Casper. Kev seems indifferent, but every time I bring Casper around Ruzek, I get some type of remark," Jay confides in her while glancing at his dog.

"Jay, don't worry about what any of them thinks. Bring Casper and celebrate Thanksgiving with your work family. Casper rarely leaves your side when you're not in your apartment. And this will be a great test of his restraint around food."

"I guess it won't hurt," Jay thinks out loud.

"It won't. And if Adam says anything, one of us will set him straight."

"Okay," Jay agrees.

"Good. Now, we can talk about Casper. How do you think he's handling the training? We've been at this for nine and a half months. Do you think he's where we should be at, at this point?"

"Yeah, I think he pretty much knows the first task and he's getting good at the second one. I mean he did a good job on the second one before he had any formal training for that," Jay answers remembering the fireworks incident.

"He did," Hailey agrees.

"He's a good dog," Jay comments.

"You know he's a lot like you," Hailey tells Jay.

"Did you just compare me to a dog?"

"Maybe a little. You're both loyal, you both have a good heart, he's almost as stubborn as you. You're both protective, you just show it in different ways. Do I need to list more?" Hailey asks.

"No, I get it."

"Have you had him wear the vest Will got for you?"

"I put it on him once in the apartment– you know, just to adjust the size, but I haven't taken him out in it yet."

"Not ready for that step yet?" Hailey questions already knowing the answer.

"No. I just– I'm worried what people will think if they know me or recognize me as a cop and I have a service dog for PTSD."

"Don't worry about what they think."

"I love Casper and he has helped me so much. I just don't want to find out what happens if the white collars find out about him. What if they think I can't be a cop because of my PTSD?"

"If they think that you can't be a cop because of your PTSD, they are wrong; and you have a whole team who can vouch for you," Hailey promises.

"The team knows?" Jay asks. "I thought I was hiding it."

"I think– from what I understand… most of them always suspected that it was a possibility that you had PTSD and it was pretty much confirmed after the whole accidental shooting and Camilla fiasco. Ruzek figured it out and told everybody else without knowing what he was actually saying."

"What do you mean?"

"After the shooting, when he found you asleep, having a nightmare, in the breakroom. He told us all how when he went to wake you that you almost attacked him. He thought that he was just warning us to be careful, but the other figured it out pretty fast."

"So you guys have known for three years and haven't said anything to me?" Jay asks hurt.

"Jay, in those three years, have anyone of us treated you differently?" Hailey answers him with her own question.

"No."

"That's because knowing that you most likely have PTSD, doesn't change how we feel about you as a person, our friend, or a cop. We know that you're a private person and that you would either go to someone you trusted or you would hit rock bottom and we would be there to pull you out."

Jay is quiet after hearing this.

"Jay, I know you don't like talking about how you're feeling but had Casper helped in that aspect; has he helped in other ways than the tasks that we're training him for?"

"Yeah, I don't know how to explain it, but my thoughts aren't taking over and trying to send me into a spiral."

"That's great. I think Casper is a very calming dog."

"He is."

The two talk for a little longer before deciding to call it a night. Jay and Casper leave shortly before Vanessa comes home.

* * *

The next week flies by, the team having case after case. "I guess the holiday is bring out the criminals," Ruzek comments.

"I think all holidays do that," Kim tells him. "Remember how crazy last year was the week before Christmas?"

"Don't you dare," Kevin pointily looks at her. "You going to jinx it."

Hailey and Jay listen to the banter in the bullpen as they try to finish their paperwork that just seems to be mounting up as the minutes pass.

Looking at the time, Jay looks to Hailey, "Want to take a ride?" Hailey nods wanting to take a break from her computer screen.

"Hey, where're you guys going?" Ruzek asks when he sees the two of them get up and head in the direction of the bullpen's exit.

"I need to let Casper out," Jay answers without looking back, not waiting to hear his reply.

Getting into Jay's truck they head to his apartment.

"So, what do you want me to bring?"

"We have a couple more days. I'll start a group text and we can decide that way," Hailey answers.

The rest of the ride is in a comfortable silence. Once at his apartment Jay gives Hailey the option of waiting in the truck or going in with him. Hailey goes in with him and Casper is happy to see two of his favorite humans.

After letting Casper out, the detectives return to the district. They spend the rest of the day finishing up the paperwork and listening to Ruzek complain about the amount of paperwork.

* * *

Thanksgiving comes before they know it. The game plan was to arrive at Hailey and Vanessa's at noon so they can all watch the first football game together before they would eat. The guys were all excited because the Bears were playing a Thanksgiving game this year.

The team starts to arrive one by one to Hailey and Vanessa's. After putting the food that they brought into the kitchen they each make their way out to the living room to catch the pre-game.

"What's he doing here?" Adam asks when he arrives, after seeing the Labrador retriever.

"I wasn't going to leave him alone for six or seven hours," Jay tells him.

"He would have been fine."

"I don't leave him alone that long while we're at work without checking on him."

"A reason why having a dog with our hours is crazy."

"Adam stop it, Casper is fine. I told Jay to bring him here," Hailey tells him.

Adam nods before taking his dish to the kitchen.

Adam is the last to arrive, having gotten there just before the game starts. The game is close, both teams having a strong offense and defense. The guys are all engrossed in the game and it has even caught the attention of the girls.

After three hours of a close game, the Bears pull out an win 24-21 over the Seahawks.

With the guys in high spirits from the Bears win, they all grab plates and make their platters before crowding around the island in the kitchen to eat.

"Before we eat," Kim starts. "My family has this tradition where we say what we are most thankful for this year."

"Let's do it," Vanessa agrees excited, having not had any traditions growing up in the system.

"I am thankful that everyone is still here," Kim starts.

"I am thankful to have found a family in you all," Vanessa goes next.

"I'm thankful that my siblings are safe even though they are far from home," Kevin adds.

"I'm thankful for family," Jay voices while petting Casper's head.

"I'm thankful that there were no close calls this year," Hailey adds thinking of the times she's almost lost her partner.

"I'm thankful for being a part of this team," Ruzek adds.

Once they are finished, they dig into their food, eating until they are borderline in a food coma.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet event with no major arguments between anyone. When no one could eat any more, they cleared the table and worked on making leftover dishes for everyone while listening to the net game.

Wanting to let their food settle before moving they settled in front of the television to watch the last quarter of the Cowboys game. The Cowboys losing to the Ravens.

Casper is by Jay the entire time, something that Kim notices but doesn't comment on… at least not yet.

With the end of the second football game, Kim, Kevin, and Adam decide it's time to leave. They grab their leftovers and the now empty dished that they brought with them and make their way out the door.

"Did you find it weird that Casper never left Jay's side?" Kim asks. "I mean, he's what? A year or so and he didn't beg from anyone?"

"Maybe he's just well trained, I mean he is Jay's dog," Kevin answers.

"I thought it was weird that Jay brought him," Adam comments.

"If you had a dog, Hailey would have let you bring him or her," Kim tells him.

* * *

"I think that went well," Vanessa comments.

"Yeah, I kind of thought that something was going to happen," Hailey adds.

"Jay, Casper was so good," Vanessa tells him.

"Thanks, he's a good dog. I'll see you guys at work," he comments as he goes to leave.

"Let me help, you have your hands full," Hailey stops him as he tries to grab his and Casper's things.

"Thanks," Jay mutters at he focuses on trying not to drop anything before Hailey can take some things off his hands.

Hailey walks Jay and Casper out to his truck where they talk for a minute. "See it wasn't that bad," Hailey tells him.

"You're right," Jay admits.

"Was that so hard to say?" Hailey teases.

"Yes," Jay deadpans, before saying his good-byes.

Hailey goes back into her house as Jay's truck pulls away.

"What was that?" Vanessa asks when she gets back inside.

"Nothing, he had his hands full.

"Sure it was nothing," Vanessa replies sarcastically. "You love him, don't you?"

"Of course I love him, he's my partner."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"He's my best friend. Nothing more."

"Okay, fine. Want help making room for everything?"

"Thanks."

* * *

**I apologize again for the long author's note at the beginning, I don't normally do that, thank you for sticking with me. Stay safe and stay healthy. See you Saturday for "A to Z" and if you don't read that, see you next Wednesday.**

**Regarding this chapter:**

**If you don't live in the United States, Thanksgiving is the court Thursday of November. On Thanksgiving, there are three (American) football games each year. Every year the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys play, the other four teams are chosen randomly within the scheduling for the year. Dallas and Detroit playing each year goes back to when Thanksgiving day games started and they were the only teams who volunteered. They now hold two of the six spots each year. The Seahawks are in Seattle, Washington and the Ravens are in Baltimore, Maryland. I don't know if theses teams would ever match up in real-life, I just chose teams at random.**

**Chapter Questions:**

**YuukiAsuna41- Chapter 5- "If you hurt my baby brother…" Oh, I love this words so much. And Jay's childhoor is really interesting. How his dad makes him down and his mom and brother try to protect him as the youngest. Do you have in mind to make a story about that?**

**Answer: At this time, no. But I have a One Chicago High School story in the works, but I have been more focused on this, "A to Z", and the Deaf fic in-progress. I might put aspects of that in the HS story, but I have not worked on that since December.**

**LostCause789- Chapter 23- I was glad to see an update! I really hope Jay opens up and tells the team about Casper. I don't necessarily think his PTSD is bad enough to need him with him at work but it would be nice if he felt like he could be honest with them.**

**Answer: You're right, his PTSD isn't bad enough that he would need him at work. And if that were the case, logically I believe that Jay wouldn't be allowed in the field with the concern that his PTSD would cause harm to come to him or someone else because of it and it would be the responsibility of the CPD. I can't find everything that I need through my research, so what I can't find for Illinois' laws on service dogs, I am using the laws of my state (a different state in the US). A service dog is allowed access to buildings as long as it is with its handler. With Casper's main task being waking Jay because of nightmares, he would not be needed outside the house for the most part, sans fireworks like Chapter 21. Hailey's comment was not to imply that Jay's PTSD is severe enough to need Casper at work, but to acknowledge laws concerning Service Dogs and the guilt that she senses Jay feels about leaving Casper alone for as long as he does because of their hours**.


	25. Chapter 25: Lazy Day

**A/N: Thank you for the positive feedback and support from the last chapter regarding my concerns. Because of that review, I was worried that I would lead to you all believing I don't pay attention to the details in my own stories. And when I worry I tend to ramble, I guess even in my writing.**

* * *

The next morning, Casper wakes Jay up from his food coma wanting to go on a walk. Jay reluctantly gets up, content to sleep off the food coma for a few more hours before moving. Jay gets dressed before grabbing Casper's leash and a ball, deciding he can feed him when they get back.

Clipping the leash onto the dog, the two head out for their walk. With it being Black Friday, the pair don't run into many people with them being in the different stores trying to find deals. Jay takes Casper to the park near his apartment, so he can run around some.

Casper happily chases the ball that Jay throws for him once off his leash. Jay takes in his surroundings, it is peaceful- something the detective is not used to. Used to the chaos of the city, Jay takes a moment to absorb the calmness that surrounds him. The park is somewhat empty as most people are shopping, there are a few teens there with who he assumes are their younger siblings while their parents shop.

Before Jay realizes it an hour has passed since he and Casper left the apartment. Casper proudly holding his ball as the two walk through the park. "Come on, Casper. Let's go home," Jay calls to the dog and gently pulls his leash in the direction that he wants to go. Casper follows him as they head back to their apartment.

On the way home, the streets are still empty compared to normal. Jay lets them into the apartment before going straight to Casper's things to get the dog his food. After making sure Casper is feed and has fresh water, Jay makes a bagel for himself before taking a quick shower.

* * *

With plans to do nothing, Jay turns on the television pulling up Netflix in search of something to watch. Jay also grabs his laptop wanting to do some online shopping for the holidays. While Jay makes himself comfortable on the couch, Casper curls up by his feet– his favorite spot.

Just as he is finishing, he hears a knock on the door. Jay knows it's not his brother since he knows Will is working again. That means it is either Hailey or a stranger, he thinks about grabbing his gun, but then he hears a familiar voice, "Jay, open up. I know you're here."

Going to the door with Casper at his heels, Jay pulls the door open to reveal the blonde. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Jay asks as he opens the door enough to let her in while making sure Casper doesn't get out.

"I just wanted to check in on you," Hailey tells him as she walks into his apartment. "We didn't get a chance to talk last night– I know Adam was being an ass about Casper."

"I'm fine. He's just being an idiot– but he is making the decision to not tell the team about Casper a lot easier."

"Don't listen to him. The team is a family and will support you when you decide to let you know," Hailey tells him.

"Yeah, maybe when we know if this is going to work," Jay gives in.

"Jay, it is working," Hailey reinforced.

"When his training is finished," Jay decides.

Sensing that Jay is about to shut down on her, Hailey changes the subject, "Aren't you glad that we don't have to pull overtime as extra security on holidays anymore?" Hailey asks him referring to the officers in their unit who are working on crowd control at different shops.

"Yeah, I don't miss that," Jay laughs.

"I feel bad for them," Hailey comments.

"But they got us the day off," Jay reminds her referring to the fact that the unit wouldn't be able to get much done with over half their team detailed out for the day.

"Have you talked to Will recently?" Hailey asks curiously.

"No, but I know he's working. It's one of the busiest days in the ED, you know people trampling each other."

"You want to start the training back up on Monday?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah, I'll check with Will, but we'll have it either way."

"Okay, sounds good. So I think we can stop focusing so much on waking you during the training sessions. He has that down pretty well."

"But what if he forgets?" Jay asks worriedly.

"He's smart. But I don't mean forget about working on it with him completely, just focus more on the other tasks."

"Okay," Jay settles down after hearing this.

The two decide that they've done enough talking and turn Netflix on selecting _Bon Cop Bad Cop_. Casper having moved to his nest of blankets and is chewing on a bone.

* * *

The weekend goes by both quickly and calmly. The intelligence unit hasn't gotten a new case that needed their attention before going back on Monday. Hailey and Jay keep in touch by texting and calling each other, but Hailey wants to give the two brothers alone time as Will had the weekend off– a rare occasion.

The two brothers pass time by taking their dogs to the park to get some exercise in before it is too cold to take the dogs out for long periods of time. Will making sure that he checks in with Jay, trying not to sound like he's going in doctor mode.

* * *

Hailey spends her time cleaning up around her house trying not to worry about her partner too much.

"Hey, what're you up to?" Vanessa asks Hailey when she sees her checking her cell.

"Nothing, just making sure I don't have any missed messages."

"That's one name for it," Vanessa comments.

"That's all I'm doing. What are you up to?"

"Netflix," Vanessa tells her. "I cannot wait until I don't have to do crowd control anymore."

"That bad?"

"It's like people lose all sanity on Black Friday."

"I don't miss that," Hailey comments.

"What you want to watch?" Vanessa asks wanting to include here roommate.

"Up to you," Hailey tells her.

After scrolling through the options Vanessa picks _Agents of Shield_.

* * *

**Regarding this chapter:**

**Black Friday in the US is the day after Thanksgiving where stores have big sales that causes people to go crazy.**

**_Bon Cop Bad Cop _is a real movie on Netflix (US). It is an action/comedy that takes place in Quebec and Ontario Canada where cops from both provinces must figure out how to work together to solve a homicide. It is both an English and Canadian French language movie.**

**Will made a cameo. He will be back in the next chapter to the capacity that he normally is in this story.**

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is late, distance learning is my enemy– don't put off papers for classes you don't like for the last minute because it will come back to bite you.**

**I hope to be back on schedule this week, but with the end of the semester nearing, it may be a little off for the next two weeks.**

**I am also starting to try to answer questions you may have about my stories. If you have questions about anything in the stories I am currently writing let me know and I will try to answer it at the end of the next chapter I post. This will be for all active stories, even if on Hiatus (Meaning the only one that is not included is "It's Just the Flu" because that one is _Complete_).**

**As always, stay safe in this crazy time and thank you to first responders and essential workers. I can't believe it took me ten years of lurking on this website before I posted some stories of my own. This is helping me keep some of my sanity in this crazy time, especially since the "leader" of my country recently said that "injecting disinfectant into the body would beat the virus and clean the lungs." Please listen to medical professionals for best information.**


	26. Chapter 26: A Difficult Case

Monday morning comes around faster than Jay would like, but at the same time, he was never good at having spare time on his hands.

Waking up earlier than normal, Jay decides he has enough time to take Casper on a quick walk before he has to be in. Jay changes and then grabs his sneakers and Casper's leash. Making sure that he has his phone and keys he clips the leash onto Casper's collar.

Once outside, Jay leads Casper around his neighborhood keeping an eye on the time. After going four blocks, Jay turns around not wanting to go too far for Casper. Getting back into his apartment Jay makes sure that Casper has fresh water in his bowl before feeding him and hoping in the shower himself.

After getting out of the shower and changing for work, Jay makes himself a quick breakfast and coffee. Surprisingly, Jay is able to eat his breakfast without being called to a scene. When Jay goes to leave, he tells Casper to be good.

* * *

Buzzing himself up to the intelligence bullpen, Jay hears the voices of his teammates talking about how bad crowd control was for the four officers of the unit. Once he reaches the bullpen, he sees that he is the last one to arrive.

Hailey is the only one to look at him when he becomes visible to the rest of the unit. "Everything okay?" she asks, ignoring the others' conversation about being an office during the holidays is terrible.

"Yeah, fine. Why?" he answers while asking a question if his own.

"You're not usually the last one here," Hailey answers.

"Running a little behind I guess," Jay answers. "I was up a little earlier than normal, so I took Casper on a walk."

Hailey gives him a silent look.

"I slept fine. I guess I was starting to go a little crazy since we've been off since Thursday," Jay answers her unvoiced question.

Before Hailey can respond, Voight comes out of his office announcing that they have a case, effectively getting the others to stop complaining.

"Over the course of the last four months, several service members have been going missing. We have three bodies now. This went from a serial kidnapper to serial killer," Voight tells the group.

When she hears this Hailey looks over to Jay to see his reaction, but can't find anything as his face is emotionless. "Check with your CIs, we need to put a stop to this before another one goes missing or before another body shows up." Voight pairs up his unit, dismissing them all but Jay and Hailey.

Once the others leave, Voight asks, "Are you able to be objective?" He asks pointedly at Jay.

"Yes," Jay answers robotically.

Voight nods, dismissing them, but not before giving Hailey a knowing look.

Hailey gives her own look, meaning she will before the two detectives leave the bullpen.

* * *

"What did Will say?" Hailey asks as they get into his truck.

"He said that he would be late, but he would be there," Jay answers while putting his truck into drive.

"Are you okay, really?" Hailey asks wanting to know what is going on in Jay's head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jay tells her dismissively.

"I know these cases are personal to you, it's okay if you're not. You can talk to me," Hailey reminds him.

"I know, but I have Casper now too," Jay tells her.

Hailey internally smiles, happy to know that if Jay isn't opening up to her, he is at least talking to Casper.

The rest of the drive is quiet as Hailey doesn't want to push Jay because it doesn't seem like he needs to be pushed right now.

* * *

"Do you think the others got anything?" Hailey asks on the way back to the station.

"I hope. There's something about this case that doesn't make sense," Jay answers tightly while clutching the steering wheel.

Sensing that Jay is getting worked up about the case, Hailey has an idea. "Hey, do you want to stop and check on Casper?"

"We don't have time," Jay responds.

"Jay, I can tell that this case is getting to you. Casper can help," Hailey tries.

"We don't have time. Besides I'm going to use my lunch to let him out."

"I don't think that we're going to have time for lunch with this case. It's not like no one ever took a detour on the way back to the district."

Jay thinks this over for a moment before he heads towards his apartment. Noticing the direction that they are now going Hailey takes it as a win.

* * *

When Jay opens the door to his apartment, Casper comes to the door to greet his human. "Hey, boy," Jay gives the puppy his own greeting. "Come on, let's go out," Jay continues as he grabs the leash.

As Hailey stays by the two, she watches as the tension leaves Jay with Casper by his side. Jay lets the growing puppy stretch out some before taking him back inside.

After spending around ten minutes with Casper, Jay makes sure that he has water before leaving to go back to the district.

"Feeling better?" Hailey asks as they make their way back to the 21st.

"Yeah," Jay sighs. "This case… it just doesn't make sense. Who would go after service members?"

"Maybe someone with a grudge. Are you going to be okay with this case?" Hailey questions.

"Did Voight put you up to this?" Jay answers the question with one of his own.

"No. I know you aren't going to believe this, but people do care about you."

"Sorry."

"Jay, I didn't say that to make you feel bad-"

"I know- I just…"

"I know. We can talk about it later."

"Okay," Jay answers as they pull up to the district.

* * *

"What do you have?" Voight asks his team once everyone is back in the intelligence bullpen.

Ruzek is the first one to speak, "Not anything that's useful. They literally have no connections other than being service members."

"And they all served different branches," Kim adds.

"So, if they're from different branches, it couldn't be a personal grudge. Could it?" Vanessa asks.

"It could be against the military in general," Kevin suggests.

"There's five branches- which one is missing?" Jay questions.

"Um, victim one was Navy, victim two Marine Corps, victim three Air Force, and our missing man is Coast Guard," Kim lists.

"So, the only one that's missing is Army?" Jay confirms.

"Looks like it."

"Can I see the files?" Jay asks causing Kim to pass the folders to him.

"Do you see something?" Hailey asks.

"There is something in common. It's just not obvious."

"Well, what is it, Halstead?" Voight asks.

"A SEAL, a Raider, a PJ, and a TACLET," Jay answers.

"What's that mean?" Ruzek voices the question that everyone is wondering.

"They're specialized units within each branch."

"So, that means if we don't get this guy soon, the next person to go missing will be an Army Ranger?" Hailey asks concerned looking at Jay.

The rest of the unit also looks at the former Army Ranger.

"Not necessarily. Besides Rangers, the Army also has Night Stalkers and Green Berets."

"We're getting this son of a bitch before someone from the Army goes missing. And we're getting him before the fourth victim's body shows up," Voight tells his team, the familiar look of 'even if we have to tear the city apart' is in his eye.

Now that Jay was able to make the connection, the team has something to work with even if it isn't much.

"This can't be personal can it?" Hailey asks. "If it was the targets would be from one branch and from one type of specialized unit, right?"

"Maybe, it still could be. Just maybe not in the sense of being rejected from the military."

"Do you have any CIs that would be useful for this? This is such a strange case," Hailey mumbles.

"Most of my CIs tend to be the other side of military characters."

* * *

It's nine o'clock by the time that Voight lets them leave for the night, wanting them to be back at seven in the morning.

All of the members of the unit leave quickly before Voight is able to change his mind. The officers of the unit go their separate ways knowing that they have to be in early the next day. Hailey hangs back for a minute wanting to talk to Jay.

"What do you want to do about training?"

"I don't want to bother you. We need to be in early tomorrow," Jay answers in a roundabout way.

"We can work with Casper for an hour instead of the normal two," Hailey offers.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Is Will still coming?"

"I told him we caught a case."

"Okay, let him know that we're doing a short session if he wants to come," Hailey orders him.

Jay nods but doesn't actually intend on doing what he is told.

"I'll meet you at your place," Hailey tells him as they get into their respective vehicles.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Jay asks, surprised to see his brother outside of his apartment unit when he and Hailey arrive.

"Hailey texted me because she knew you wouldn't," Will answers.

"Hailey," Jay looks at her.

"Sorry, but this is part of learning that people care about you."

Jay sighs as he opens the door to his apartment to let them in.

"So, are we starting the next task?" Will asks.

"We were going to, but because of the shortened training session, we'll start then new task next time," Hailey answers.

"Bad case?"

"The connection that we have is not helping us on a motive."

"You'll figure it out," Will states as they get to work.

The three of them work on the grounding technique for the next hour before calling it a night. Before leaving Casper is able to con belly and head rubs out of Hailey and Will.

* * *

**A/N: WOW! I am so sorry for going MIA on this story for almost three months. The long explanation is in an author's note in my other story, but the short one is that distance learning is harder than I thought and it is not how I want to learn.**

**If you follow my other story disregard any timeline that I stated for the Deaf Fic, and for future chapters on this story. What I can say is that I have five more chapters to write of "A to Z" and once I finish that, I will mostly be working on this and a prompt that I was given by floppdeedoopdee. I am still on chapter 3 of deaf Jay and am putting the prompt ahead of that because that is a short five-chapter story while the deaf fic has no definite chapter count. For this story, the case that they are working on is not finished and there defiantly will be more Will in the coming chapters. If you are ever wondering about what's going on with any of my stories, check out my bio. I have a list of both my published and unpublished works; I believe that I do a pretty good job of keeping it up to date, maybe 95% of the time it is accurate.**

**I will try to get back to the schedule that I had created of this being updated on Wednesdays and "A to Z" on Saturdays.**

**I have changed my penname to match my AO3 name (Otter_Love_ASL) that I recently joined and am slowly adding my stories to that website as well. I only post here and on AO3. I have edited and added conversions (F to C) in both "It's Just the Flu" and up to letter Q of "A to Z" and plan on doing the same to this at some point.**

**Regarding this Chapter:**

**A PJ is a para-jumper- they are the people who go in to rescue stranded aircrews from the most extreme conditions.**

**TACLET- TACtical Law enforcement Teams. Provide maritime drug interdiction and well as maritime interception domestically as well as where requested by the Department of Defense. Also they conduct training for foreign Navy and foreign Coast Guard.**

**I also know that as of December 2019 there are 6 branches of the military. But personally don't believe that the Space Force should be considered part of the military as it just makes no sense unless we are going to war against Aliens, which under the current "president" is totally possible.**

**Questions & Comments:**

**LostCause789- Chapter 25- Yes! I cannot believe that he actually said that. I fear for the future of this country. Lol. It's so embarrassing. I loved getting an update on this story. I like seeing Vanessa and Hailey interacting. That's always fun. I look forward to reading more.**

**Yes, this country is not handling anything going on at the moment or in the last six months well. I'm glad you loved getting the update and am sorry it took so long. Writing Hailey and Vanessa together is fun, I get to experiment since we don't see much of their off-duty/roommate relationship.**

**KaraWalker2008- Chapter 25- I know it hasn't been too long but are you continuing with this story because I would really like to see more especially jay revealing why he got Casper and him finishing the tasks. Btw it's really good so far keep up the good work :)**

**Thank you! Yes, I'm not that person to make a chapter an author's note only, so the updates that I gave were in author's notes in my other story. I don't have everything down but I have a skeleton of what I want to happen. Casper will be completing the tasks and the others will find out. If I do not have a note about a hiatus from the story in the summary or overview, I am currently working on it, it just might not be steady updates like I want.**

**Stay safe and Healthy! If you are a fellow American please be careful, this country does not have the virus under control and added problems of other social justice issues that are at a peak now is not helping the containment. I am not trying to be political, this is not the place for it, but just look at the numbers as of July 8, of the almost 12 million cases, the US has 3 million- that's 1/4.**


	27. Chapter 27: A Lot of Nothing

Jay wakes up the next morning with Casper laying across his stomach. "Casper," Jay calls as he scratches the dog's ear.

Casper looks over to Jay and starts wagging his tail when he sees his human awake.

"Do you want to go out?" Jay asks the dog.

Casper cocks his head to the side before walking in circles a couple of times on Jay's bed before finally jumping down.

"Is that a yes?"

Casper barks before going to the door leading out for the bedroom and turning around as if looking for Jay to follow.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming," Jay tells the dog as he finds a hoodie to throw on along with his sneakers.

Once ready, Jay hooks the leash onto Casper's collar and leads him outside. Jay takes Casper for a short walk around the block before going back into his apartment where he makes sure Casper has fresh water. The next thing that Jay does is get Casper's food before taking a shower and getting his own breakfast to go.

Before Jay leaves for work, he makes sure that Casper will be okay until he can come back and check on him later in the day.

* * *

Arriving at work, Jay notices that Kim and Kevin are the only ones who are not yet in. "What do we have?" Jay asks Hailey as he walks towards their desks.

"Nothing, that's the weird thing."

"How is that weird?"

"Because we've been going over everything and other than what you found, there is nothing that they have in common."

"Vanessa and I have been going through CCTV footage of the places in the last week of each victim and we can't find one person in common in any of them, not even someone completely random," Adam adds.

"How does this case make sense, but not make sense at the same time?" Kim questions as she enters the bullpen with Kevin behind her.

"Could we be looking for a woman?" Vanessa asks. "Their guard would be down then."

"But she wouldn't be able to subdue them without help. The ME reports say that they fought hard and there were no drugs in their systems," Kevin adds.

"We need something. I feel like we're missing key information and once we have it, we'll be able to tap in better," Hailey mutter worried that her partner could be next.

Before anyone else could make a comment, Voight comes out of his office to give them their assignment for the case. "Kevin and Adam keep going through the footage, Kim and Vanessa go and re-interview the family and close friends of the first two victims; Hailey and Jay do the same for the third and fourth victims."

The pairs go off in the direction of where their assignment is.

* * *

Getting into Jay's truck, Hailey asks, "You are being careful, right?"

"I always am."

"Okay," Hailey responds trusting her partner and his gut instinct.

"Do you think we're going to find anything useful?"

"I don't know. The connection that we have isn't that strong but we don't have anything else."

"As a military person, what do you think? I mean, from experience to service member run with people from different branches or do they mostly stay with their own?" Hailey asks

"Not generally," Jay answers. "I mean, don't get me wrong, there is a brotherhood that extends past the branch you're in, but there's still a rivalry between the different branches- we just respect each other for serving."

"Do you have any theories?"

"No, but with these guys, they're the best of the best in their respective branches," Jay answers with the second part being more to himself than answering her question.

The rest of the ride is pretty quiet, as Hailey knows that Jay isn't too open about his time in the military and it seems like they are getting to close to that for his comfort.

* * *

Back at the district, Kevin and Adam are going through the footage to see if there is anything that was missed the first time.

"This has to be the strangest case that Intelligence has had," Adam comments.

"It's probably one of the most important cases," Kevin tells his friend. "I mean they survive wherever they're stationed only to be killed on US soil."

"You really think that it was that bad where they were?"

"Why do you think Jay never talks about it? And remember what Mouse was like when he first started working here?"

"Jay's not that talkative, to begin with, and Mouse always just seemed like he was wired up on too much coffee," Adam answers while getting a look of disbelief back in response.

* * *

After finishing their extensive interviews, and a pitstop at Jay's for the detective to let out Casper, both pairs sent out return to the district to share what they found which wasn't much.

"How can we have so much information, but nothing at all?" Kim questions frustrated after they compare all of their notes.

"I swear once we find it, it's going to be one of those things that was staring at us all along," Hailey mutters.

The team works from the bullpen until Voight sends them home at nine-thirty, telling them to be ready in the morning with fresh eyes.

* * *

When Jay arrives home, the first thing he does is put his gun and badge away and then he grabs Casper's leash to take him on his walk.

Casper happily walks alongside his human. Jay decides to take Casper on an extra-long walk, since he has spent so much time on their current case and because soon it will be too cold to go for long walks.

About fifteen blocks from their apartment complex, the hairs on the back of Jay's neck stand. He cautiously looks around to find nothing out of the ordinary of the empty street. With this strange feeling, Jay decides it is a good time to turn around and head home.

He gently pulls on Casper's leash to guide him in the direction of their home. The two walk for a few blocks before Jay gets the same strange feeling of something not being right.

Jay pulls Casper closer to him as he doesn't want him hurt. As they walk past an ally, someone pops out and goes to grab Jay before he can think. Before Jay has a chance to fight back, three more comes out to help subdue him.

"T get the dog," Jay hears the first guy order.

Hearing this Jay drops the leash, "Casper, run!" he orders as he attempts to fight his attackers off.

Casper starts to leave until he realizes that his human is not with him. Jay sees Casper slow down and order him to go again once he sees "T" going after his dog. "Casper, go!" He yells as he continues to fight the three attackers.

The three attackers continue to hit Jay blow-by-blow, with the fourth one casing Casper. Jay is giving it everything he has, but he can't do much against three guys who are a bit bigger than him and Jay is slowly starting to lose consciousness.

After a few minutes, the fourth man comes back. "Did you get the mutt?" the leader asks.

"No, I lost it after a few blocks. I wouldn't worry about it; it looks young and taken care of. No way it lasts in the streets."

Hearing that Casper managed to get away, Jay allows his body scum to the pain and goes unconscious.

When his attackers realize that he is unconscious, they drag him into the ally that they came out of and put him in the back of their van where they tie his hands and feet together and tape his mouth shut before driving off.

* * *

Casper looks around after running away from his human. Not knowing where he is, he tries to find his way back home before getting scared and finding himself alone in a park where he hides in the bushes, hoping that his human comes to look for him.

* * *

**A/N: Whoo! Only two weeks this time and not close to three months. WOW! I feel evil leaving you all with that ending.**

**For all of you who have said missed Casper, I missed him too and I missed writing him. I don't know how it is possible to miss a dog that doesn't exist, but I did.**

**So, I don't think that there's anything in this chapter that I need to explain, but if you have questions leave a comment and I will answer it in the next chapter.**

**Okay, so I mentioned this in my other story, but there is an author on this site who is plagiarizing other people's stories. That's not cool, if you see it, please report it. It is easy to tell because their writing level from the Title and chapter summary does not match the content of the story**. **So, please report these people for plagiarism, it is not far to the authors affected. The accounts that I am almost certain that are from the same person are _sweetbutpsychogirl16,_ _Onechicagofamily. suv_, _PdUpstead_, and most recently _Shanyah Cole_. I believe that this same person is also pulling the same stunt on AO3. ***Take away the spaces with the first two. sweetbutpsychogirl16 was formally ****_Chicagopd . svu._**

**The first time I mentioned it, another author who I will not name, just because I don't know if they want me to name them, gave me a list of the plagiarizer's AO3 names: _Rileyrollins_1_, _Pdupstead_, _Riley_Rollins2_, _Shanya_ Cole_, and _Chicagopd_svu_ ***If there is a space in the AO3 name, there is an underscore, it is just not visible because I underlined the name.*****

**The account sweetbutpsychgirl16 is also a beta on this site. I encourage you to not use her as a beta. I see no good of using a beta who plagiarized, I also, personally, don't think she would be a good beta as far as English grammar goes. I personally don't use a beta, but I have nothing against them, as long as they are an honest writer.**

**Sorry for the rant, but in other news. I joined AO# about a month ago and am slowly in the process of adding my stories over there as well as them being here. FF is still my go to site, but I am editing these stories and adding them over there.**


	28. Chapter 28: Missing?

Casper waits, hiding in the bush looking for his human. He waits until he ends up falling asleep, scared, and alone.

When he wakes up, it is because the sun is shining in his face. Casper looks up, hoping that his human has found him. The pup looks around to see humans walking around, but the human he s looking for is nowhere in sight.

Casper gets up and comes out of his hiding spot- maybe he can find his human. His human couldn't have forgotten him.

Casper wanders around, his leash dragging behind him.

* * *

Casper is walking down the street, trying to find something familiar when a white van turns the corner.

The driver sees the lone dog and stops the vehicle and gets out grabbing a pole with a loop at the end. The driver approaches Casper with the tool. This human is scaring the dog, so he backs up until he is against the wall giving the new human a chance to place the device around Casper's neck before placing a muzzle on him and placing him in a cage in the back of the van.

This scares Casper even more as he doesn't know what is going on or where his human is.

After what feels like forever, the back door to the van is opened and the cage that Casper was placed in is moved.

* * *

"Hey, Anna," the dog catcher calls the young volunteer at the front desk of the pound.

"Yeah, Sam?" the volunteer, Anna, answers.

"Got another one," Sam tells her while wheeling the cage in. "Got room?"

"Barely," Anna answers before looking up from the paperwork she was filling out. "It has a leash."

"It probably got loose. There was no one around."

"I'll take care of…there's something on the leash."

"Huh?"

"'Do Not Distract; Service Dog in Training'," she reads.

"Not a very good one."

"You go back to whatever you were doing. I'll handle this," Anna says as she opens the cage.

"Hey, we don't know if it's dangerous."

"You have a muzzle on it and service dogs aren't aggressive," she answers before turning her attention to the dog. "Come here," she calls, holding out her hand for Casper to sniff.

Casper stares at her for a second before determining that she isn't a threat and moving closer to sniff the offered hand.

"Good dog," Anna praises as she reaches for his tags to see if there is any information. "Casper," she reads causing the puppy to wag his tail. "What happened boy?" she asks.

Anna grabs Casper's leash and walks him behind the desk. Looking at his tags, she sees one with a phone number and a name, Jay Halstead.

Anna picks up the phone and dials the number only to receive the voicemail of said person. With the knowledge that Casper is a service dog in training, Anna assumes that this Jay person is the handler. Anna then undoes the wrap from the leash to see if there is anything underneath. To her surprise there is a post-it note with two names.

Anna tries the first number to once again receive the voice mail. She then tries the second number, hoping that someone picks up.

"Hello?" she hears over the phone, relief flooding through her.

"Hello, is this a Will Halstead?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"My name is Anna. I'm a volunteer at Red Door Animal Shelter; one of our dog catchers brought in a yellow lab. It has a blue collar and leash there is also a leash wrap-" she gets cut off.

"Casper's at the pound?!"

"You know the dog?"

"He belongs to my brother! Where did you find him? Is he okay?"

"He's a little dirty but otherwise fine. I don't know where he was found exactly, Sam would have to answer that. Why would your brother leave his dog by himself?"

"That doesn't sound like him. He loves that dog."

"If someone can get here in the next half an hour, I won't put Casper in the system. There are already too many animals here."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

In the intelligence bullpen, Voight is hanging up the picture of the body of the missing Coast Guard man.

"We're running out of time," Vanessa comments.

"If this pattern continues, how are we going to know who this person will take next? Is there a way to find out who was in specialized units in the Army?" Kim asks.

"We can ask Jay when he gets here; he might have some contact," Adam answers.

"Where is he?" Kevin asks.

The unit looks to Hailey for an answer, "I haven't talked to him since we left yesterday."

"Maybe he's sick?" Kim suggests weakly.

"Adam, can you track his phone? I have a bad feeling," Hailey asks.

"I've got nothing," Adam answers after a moment.

* * *

"Casper," Will calls when he enters the Red Door Animal Shelter.

Casper sees the red-head and pulls his way to him.

"Will Halstead?" Anna questions.

"Yes," Will answers while petting Casper. "What's going on?"

"Like I said, Sam, one of our dogcatchers, brought Casper in about ten minutes before I called you. I noticed the leash wrap around his leash so I knew he was a service dog, or at least training to be one. I tried calling the number on his tag, but no one picked up. I then undid the leash wrap to see if there was anything under there that would help, there was a post-it note with two numbers on it," Anna explains while handing Will the post-it note.

* * *

Hailey picks up her personal phone when she sees it is Will calling.

Before she can ask about Jay, Will speaks, "I think something happened to Jay."

"What? Will, what happened?" Hailey asks gaining the attention of the rest of the unit.

"I just got Casper from an animal shelter. Jay didn't answer his phone."

"Come here and bring Casper," Hailey tells him.

"What happened with Casper?" Vanessa question.

"Will thinks something happened to Jay. He just got Casper from the pound."

"Maybe Jay realized that having a dog with our hours is too hard," Adam suggests.

"Adam!" everyone yells at him.

"What if this is the work of our suspect?"

"Then we retrace Halstead's steps, turn every stone, and tear the city apart if we have to, but we are going to find him alive," Voight answers.

* * *

In an unknown building, Jay regains consciousness where he discovers that he is chained up from the ceiling, feet barely touching the floor.

"Good, you're awake," his captor says before pushing a taser into his side, sending the electric waves through his body.

* * *

**A/N: Well... the team figured out Jay is missing and Casper is safe, but is Jay? I already know what I want to do for the next two chapters, but is there anything that you all would want to see after that? The next chapter or two may or may not be longer than normal. This is the next story that I'm going to work on editing and getting up on AO3. I think that's all... Stay safe everyone.**

**Comments & Questions:**

**Joy. Meathiel- Chapter 27- Hi! I spend the day reading your story! Who could resist Jay with a pup? I love it! If you don't mind me asking, do you have plans for Hailey and Jay being together? If not, will Hailey stop being Jay's PTSD sponsor and live a little? For the last year, she has been there for him, worrying and he's been grateful, but it doesn't seem that he's interested in her life… I just thought that if he changed that much with Casper's help, he would you know, give them a chance, or if he's not into her like that at least with someone else…They are both young, they deserve love… Another thing, what's the problem with Ruzek? Why he's like that with Jay? Anyways…Please update soon, can wait to know what happened with Jay's and Casper.**

**Response: Okay, I think I answered all these questions are some way or another in my notes from my other story but I will put it here too:**

**-Platonic versus Romantic Upstead- In the beginning, I did not like Hailey. I was a Lindstead fan, and didn't want Jay and Hailey to get together. I was keeping them platonic to parallel to the show (This shows in my story, "It's Just the Flu"), but with the development this season I was starting to open up to the idea of a romantic relationship (Hints of Vanessa being an Upstead shipper in "Man's Best Friend"). I was hoping that the end of this season I would be able to see what was happening on screen to decide what side of the fence I'm on, but due to current circumstances, the season was cut short by a few episodes, so I'm still up in the air right now. There are some one-shots in my "A to Z" where they are together as a couple.**

**-Hailey and Jay PTSD sponsor- I don't believe that Hailey is Jay's sponsor in the way that you are implying. You are implying that she is his sponsor like an AA sponsor. That definition would be "An alcoholic who has made some progress in the recovery program and shares the experience on a continuous, individual basis with another alcoholic who is attempting to attain or maintain sobriety through AA." In Jay's case, his sponsor would be someone who also has PTSD, but has made progress with it. I would say that she is a close friend that want to see him get better. Also, I don't feel she would want to start a relationship with him, if he were in a bad place with his PTSD, her first concern as his friend would be his mental health. But to answer the question, this story is about PTSD and how some people with the diagnosis can do well with the help of a service dog. This story is not meant to be about personal lives in a subplot of this story, as I do not feel that I am a good enough writer to create subplots and finish them.**

**-Ruzek- So the long answer is that I don't feel that I'm a good writer, I see many things that could be improved I just don't know how to. I think my biggest problem is keeping the characters in character, as of right now, I feel like the only characters I have semi-down are Jay and Hailey and I feel like I'm getting close to getting to how to write them. I'm not the biggest fan of Voight, Kim, or Ruzek. So, for these characters I either avoid writing them so that they don't seem out of character, or I make them the bad guy in Ruzek's case. And I feel that Kevin doesn't get a lot of screen time, so I don't want to write him much because I don't want him to be too out of character.**

**Rosie4334- Chapter 27- Love Jay and Casper together. They are so protective of each other. Hope Casper is found soon because he must be so scared. Wish that upton wasn't so glued to Jay. Maybe she needs her own dog. Worried about Jay and what will happen to him since his team seems to be clueless. Update soon.**

**Response: Look, if you don't like Upton, then don't read stories that she is tagged in. I understand constructive criticism, but this is not constructive criticism. This is just hating on a character. I understand having a personal opinion, but I feel that this is going beyond that. Call me weird, but I read the reviews that people have left on the stories that I read, and I have seen you attack Hailey in multiple reviews no matter what she did. You have your opinion and authors have theirs and that is fine, but it seems like your reviews at times center around how you hate Upton and how you manage to make her sound like the bad guy, no matter how the author is trying to portray her. In one that I read from you earlier today (7/25) you left a comment (on 7/23) "…This is my own private rant about upton." It is not private when it is in a public page where anyone can see it. It would be your personal opinion, not a private one. This is just one example, I can find at least five more. No one is forcing you to read Upstead stories or stories with Upton. If I lose readers because of this, then fine because to me you just troll Upstead stories and someone needed to say something. You don't like Upton- stick to reading old Lindsay/Lindstead stories. To everyone else, I'm sorry about my rant.**


	29. Chapter 29: The Search is On

"Where's my brother?" Will questions the intelligence unit when Hailey brings him into the bullpen.

"We don't know," Hailey tells him. "Jay didn't show today. We were trying to locate him when you called me."

"Have you heard from him?" Voight questions.

"No, I haven't talked to him in a couple of days," Will answers looking at Hailey, giving her the unspoken timeline of training Casper.

"Has he mentioned anything unusual to you?" Voight questions. "Did he think he was being followed?"

"No! What's going on?"

"Has Jay told you anything about our case?" Voight questions.

"No, just that it was a tough one," Will answers.

"We think that our suspect is taking military people and torturing them," Hailey tells the older Halstead, leaving out the murdering part.

"That's how Jay fits," Will mumbles to himself. "Why would they take Jay? He's been out for thirteen years," Will questions the unit.

"It looks like the military members that are being taken are part of their branch's specialized units."

"What are you doing to get him back?"

"We can't find anything other than the military connection," Ruzek tells Will.

"Where was Casper found?" Hailey asks.

"I don't know, but I got him from Red Door Animal Shelter," Will tells them.

"That can narrow it down," Atwater states as he goes onto his computer.

"Casper, come here," Hailey calls the dog. Casper goes over to her and she starts looking him over.

"What are you doing?" Ruzek asks.

"Trying to see if there's anything on him that can help."

"Is there anything?" Will asks.

"No, just some dirt and leaves."

"What can I do?"

"Take Casper back to Jay's and stay with him," Hailey tells him.

"Hailey-"

"I'll call you when we have Jay," Hailey tells him giving him the same look that she gives Jay when he's being stubborn.

Will takes a deep breath before calling Casper and walking down the stairs.

* * *

"Let's see how you hold up compared to the others," the second man tells Jay.

"My team's going to find me. And when they do, you'll wish you were dead," Jay spits out.

"They won't find you… until we want them to."

* * *

"Come on, Casper," Will calls the dog as he enters Petco.

Casper follow behind the red-head. Will lead Casper to the self-serve dog wash stations in the back. "Let's get you cleaned up for Jay."

Will proceeds to give Casper a bath, getting off the dirt and leaves that stuck to the puppy from being on his own.

* * *

"Hailey, Vanessa, go to the shelter where Casper ended up," Voight tells the two.

The two girls get up and leave the bullpen heading to Hailey's car.

"Do you think we're going to find him?" Vanessa asks.

"We have to. He didn't survive Afghanistan just to die here."

"If Jay was taken by the same people, does that mean the other body is going to show up soon?" Vanessa questions, realizing that their fourth body has yet to make an appearance,

"Maybe we can save both of them."

* * *

Jay swallows a scream as one of his kidnappers burn him with a meatal rod.

"Looks like this kid is going to last longer than the last," the third man states.

* * *

"Is there anything you can tell us about where Casper was found?" Hailey asks Anna.

"No, but Sam, the dogcatcher who brought him in, might be able to."

"Where is he?"

"He should be in the back, I'll take you to him," Anna offers coming out from behind the desk.

"Thanks," the young officer speaks up as the follow Anna into the back.

"There he is," Anna tells the two pointing to a man getting a dog situated into a cage before leaving.

"Sam?" Hailey questions.

"Yeah?"

"Chicago PD, we have some questions for you."

"Regarding?" Sam asks, confusion clear on his face.

"The yellow lab you fond this morning," Vanessa answers.

"What does a stray have to do with the police?"

"The 'stray' belongs to a detective of the Chicago police department, who is missing and believed to be in danger," Hailey snaps.

"So, where did you find him?" Vanessa asks.

Stunned by the detective's attitude, Sam gives them the location of where he found Casper.

* * *

Will opens Jay's apartment to let himself and Casper in. Casper runs into Jay's room to find his human. He searches everywhere before whining and going back to the living room to Will.

"I know, buddy, I know. The team will find him," Will tells the dog. "You must be hungry," Will remembers as he goes to where Jay keeps Casper's things. Casper whines again.

Will puts the bowl down and Casper goes over to it before looking at Will again.

* * *

"Guys, we got a location on where Casper was picked up. Vanessa and I are headed there now and are going to go out from there," Hailey informs the rest of the team by radio.

"Okay," Voight responds. "Send it to the rest of us and we'll meet you there."

"Do you think we'll find anything?" Vanessa asks.

"I hope so."

* * *

"Why are you doing this?" Jay questions through the pain.

"Because," is the only answer he gets before his head is dunked in ice water.

* * *

Kim and Kevin join Vanessa and Hailey in fifteen minutes.

"Where are Adam and Voight?" Hailey questions.

"Still at the district," Kim answers.

"The body of the coast guard member showed up," Kevin adds.

"Dammit," Hailey curses.

"Hey, Jay's tough. We'll find him," Kim tells her.

"Where do you want to start?" Kevin asks.

"Vanessa and I will go this way," Hailey instructs pointing to her right. "You two," she addresses the other officers, "go that way," she points to the opposite direction.

* * *

"There has to be something going on between the two of them," Kim comments as she and Kevin are looking for any clue as to what happened to Jay.

"I don't kno-" Kevin starts. "Hey, what's this?" He asks as he sees a piece of black metal underneath a trash bag in the ally.

Kim looks to where he is pointing, "Looks like a phone." Kim picks up the phone, the screen is badly cracked, but the two are able to make out a picture of a yellow lab.

"Hailey," Kim calls on her over the radio.

"Yeah?"

"Kev and I found a phone. The screen has a picture of a yellow lab, could this be Jay's?"

"Where are you?" Kim gives Hailey their location and Hailey notes that she will be there with Vanessa in five minutes.

As promised Hailey arrives in five minutes with Vanessa in tow. "Let me see," Hailey reaches for the phone. Hailey punches in a number and the phone unlocks, "This is Jay's."

"So, this is where he was taken," Vanessa mumbles as she looks around.

"Have we found out anything else, like why he was taken?" Hailey asks.

"Nothing," Kevin answers.

"Hey, is that a security camera?" Kim asks pointing at a black sphere mounted onto the brick building.

"Worth a try," Hailey states going towards the building.

* * *

Walking into the building, the group sees that it is a café.

"How many?" the host asks.

"Chicago PD, can we speak with the manager?" Kevin asks. The host goes to get the manager, who appears a moment later.

"Can I help with something?" he asks confused.

"Is that a security camera in the ally next to your building?" Vanessa asks.

"Yes, I had it installed after one of my employees was attacked while taking out the trash," he replies.

"Can we take a look at the footage?" Kim asks.

"A detective is missing and we think that he disappeared in that ally," Hailey adds.

"Of course," he leads them to them his office. "What time are you looking for?" he asks.

"Sometime late last night to early this morning," Hailey answers.

The manager nods, bringing the footage to ten o'clock the night before. "I need to get back to work, but if you need a copy, just let me know."

The four thanks him before taking a look at the footage on the computer.

"Hey, what's that?" Kevin questions.

"Looks like a partial," Vanessa answers.

* * *

"This is Tanner Geoffrey," Vanessa tells the team as she puts the picture on the whiteboard. "He owns the van that we got the partial from. From what we can make out there were three other figures in the video excluding Jay."

"Geoffrey was rejected from the Marine Corps on the physical fitness requirement," Adam tells the group.

"What if we're looking for others who have been rejected from the different branches of the military?" Kim asks.

"Is there a way to find out that information? Are there records of that?"

"There's not a database, but we can find that information, it might take time though."

* * *

Hours later, the team is able to get a list of possible suspects. Their list is narrowed down to people who are still located within city limits, but Hailey is still worried that they are missing possible suspects.

"Hey, I think I have something," Adam tells the rest of the unit.

"What is it?"

"Jonathan Blackthorn– rejected from the army three years ago on the psychological assessment. He has a secondary property in the industrial district– that's where they could be holding Jay," he suggests.

"Okay, send everyone the address. I want us there yesterday," Voight orders.

* * *

"He should break soon," Jay faintly hears as he is being waterboarded. He loses consciousness before he hears anything else.

* * *

The team breaches into the building where they believe that Jay is being held. As they breach, they can hear footsteps– running away, trying to escape.

The four suspects split up, causing Voight to go after the first one; Kevin and Kim to go after the second; Adam on the third; and Hailey and Vanessa to go after the last one.

Once Hailey is sure that their suspects are being handled, she goes off to search for Jay. Being careful as she searches each room, Hailey finds Jay tied up on the table where he was waterboarded.

"Jay," she calls. "Can you hear me?' Hailey uses a sternum rub to try to rouse him. Jay moans and Hailey sighs in relief. "Jay?" She calls again.

Jay mumbles incoherently.

"That's it, Jay. You're going to be okay," Hailey tells him before pulling out her radio. "5021 Henry to Main. I need an ambo at my location now. I have an officer down."

"Ambo is six minutes out."

"Hailey," Adam comes into the room.

"Adam, get the emergency blanket from the car! He's freezing," Hailey orders.

Adam runs off to get the requested item. He returns in less than two minutes, helping Hailey wrap the blanket around the injured detective.

Soon after the ambulance arrives and Brett and Foster appear. "What do we have?" Brett questions.

"We don't know exactly. He was taken and tortured, but we don't know how or to what extent. He's barely conscious," Hailey answers.

"Let's get an IV going and put him on oxygen. He's going into shock, East Mercy is closest," Brett tells them.

"Is he stable enough to make it to Med?" Hailey questions.

Brett and Foster look at each other, "Yes," she answers while placing the oxygen mask on him.

* * *

Hailey climbs into the back of the ambulance after reminding the team that someone has to call Will and Adam slams the doors shut before the vehicle takes off.

Hailey and Brett hear Jay mumbling something. "Jay, you're okay. We're on the way to Med," Hailey tells him.

Jay grabs the mask and lifts it up a little, "Casper?" He questions worry clear on his face.

"Casper is fine. He's at your apartment with Will," Hailey reassures him.

* * *

"Physically, Jay's going to be fine," Rhodes tells the team and Will after examining Jay. "I'm going to keep him overnight for observation. If he lets me, I want to keep him for at least two days before I discharge him."

"Physically?" Kim asks.

"He's now awake yet, but judging from the injuries he received, I want psych to evaluate him."

"Can we see him?" Hailey questions.

"He's being moved to a room right now. In about twenty minutes, a nurse will show you to his room."

"Thanks, Connor," Will nods towards his colleague.

* * *

Walking into Jay's room the group is quiet, not wanting to startle him if the detective is sleeping.

"Hey," Jay croaks when they enter.

"How're feeling?" Kim asks.

"Like I went through a meat grinder," Jay answers. "When can I go home?"

"Connor wants to keep you for observation for a couple of days before discharging you," Will tells his brother.

The group stays, filling Jay in on what they know– promising to get to the bottom of it now that they have people in custody until a nurse kicks them out for the night.

"Will?" Jay calls before his brother can leave.

"Yeah?" Will pauses, going back to the bed.

"Casper's really okay?"

"He's fine. He misses you, but he's fine. He got picked up and ended up at an animal shelter. They called me and I picked him up."

"He's okay," Jay whispers to himself.

"Go to sleep," Will suggests. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Go home, I'll be fine."

"Call if you need anything," Will orders as he leaves the room.

"Is he okay?" Hailey asks when Will exits the room.

"Yeah, he just wanted to know about Casper"

"Should we get Casper? I'm afraid what he went through is going to give him nightmares," Hailey mentions.

"Good idea," Will agrees. "I'll run and get him. Do you know where Jay put the vest I got him for Casper?"

"In the closet with the extra leash and harness," Hailey answers.

"Okay, I'll be back in less than an hour. Do you mind staying until then?"

"No problem," Hailey answers while walking into the room.

* * *

Will goes back to Jay's apartment to be greeted by Casper. "Hey, boy. Come on, we're going to see Dad," he tells the dog while going into the closet to grab the vest.

Pulling the vest from the closet, Will notices that Jay did in fact attach some of the patches to the vest. Taking a good look at the vest, Will notices that Jay attached six of the patches he was given: _Service Dog in Training, Do Not Distract, Ignore Me I'm Working, We Are A Team Forever, Access Required By Law No Exception, _and _Not All Disabilities Are Visible_. Will also noticed that there were some patches that he didn't recognize: _Do Not Distract PTSD Service Dog in Training _and _Service Dog in Training No Touch No Talk No Eye Contact_.

Will smiles to himself seeing that Jay added some more patches on his own.

"Casper, come here," he calls the dog. Casper comes over and Will places the vest on him. Will then puts on Casper's leash and leads him out the door.

* * *

Will walks back into Med with Casper and is stopped by a night nurse, "No pets allowed."

"He's a service dog in training and his handler is admitted on this floor."

The nurse nods and leaves them be.

Will walks into Jay's room to see Jay squirming in the bed, the heart monitor beeping faster than normal.

"Casper," Hailey calls. "Help your dad."

Will helps Casper onto the bed and undoes the leash. Casper moves to Jay's face and starts licking him. When that doesn't help, he lays on top of Jay and the pressure seems to calm Jay down, the monitors attached to him going back to a normal range as proof.

Will moves to take off Casper's vest so the dog is more comfortable for the night.

"Should one of us stay? In case Casper needs out throughout the night?" Hailey asks.

"No, he should be fine. I made him go before we came in and I need to be back at six for my shift. I can let him out then."

"Okay, I'll probably come and check on him before going into work," Hailey tells the older Halstead.

"Sounds good," Will answers as he places the vest on the chair on the side of the bed opposite of the door.

When the two leave, Casper is still on top of Jay providing comfort.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's late, but it's about 1,700 words longer than my average for this story. I know there are a lot of line breaks, but I wanted to switch between "scenes" a lot in this chapter. Once again, it is late in my time zone (2AM) so I will reread this later at a more reasonable time and edit if necessary, but I wanted to get it published. Though, as always, it was ran through Grammarly. I will possibly come up with a better Chapter Title as well.**

**Regarding my author's note from the last chapter; Who's to say I was criticizing a follower? I was just ranting… this was my own private rant about what I have seen in the fandom. It just happened to be a rant in response to a review. And like I said in the author's note in the last chapter: If I lose readers because of my rant… that's fine because it needed to be said- this fandom can be toxic at times. The shippers are on different sides of the fence, but don't often don't let it be. I'm a blunt person; it's the thing that people either like about me or hate about me. There's no inbetween.**

**Update on all stories:**

**-"Rock Bottom": I have not forgotten about it. It will be completed, but I am holding off on working on that until I have time to do more research to portray the subject in a respectful manner.**

**-"Man's Best Friend": Hopefully getting back to a regular schedule. I have no end at this point, so it will be continued for as long as people are interested and I can keep it fresh. This is also the next story I plan on editing and adding to AO3.**

**-Whump prompt by floopdeedoopdee: in progress. Have part of chapter 1 done, it will be 5 chapters. I will post when it is complete, one chapter a week.**

**-Deaf Jay: I am still on chapter 3. The problem with that one is that I am using the deaf chapter from here for the first chapter, so I am trying to make all chapters around 3,000 words which takes me more time than my normal 1,000-2,000 word chapters.**

**-"A to Z": So, there's three more chapters and I only have to write two of them. I'm going to miss writing one-shots. Should I do a "One-shot Sunday" and publish random one-shots on Sunday? If I did, I would be taking requests- I would just need to figure out how that would work so the request would all be in one place. Also due to this being delayed, Chapter "X" of "A to Z" is probably not going to be published until Tuesday or Wednesday. The good news is that "Y" is already written and just needs to be looked through one more time.**


	30. Ch 30: The Cat(sper) is Out of the Bag

**A/N: I want to address a review that I got on the last chapter. I am addressing it here, in case others have the same question. But before I get to that, I want to thank the reader who have stuck with me…from my first story to the story that I put on hiatus because I wanted to take more time to do the topic justice. I was always told by my teachers that I was a terrible writer, but by seeing the many familiar pennames that leave consistent reviews through my four stories tells me that I must be doing something right, so thank you for sticking with me.**

**Now this reviewer is the same person who I ranted about previously in an author's note at the top of the chapter instead of the bottom. The first thing is that the lengths of my chapters are too short. As I said before, in this story they range from 1,000 and 3,000 words, the majority being between 1,200 and 1,600. I feel like this is a good length if this story is getting updated once a week and is not pre-written. I try to keep my chapters consistent in size within each story ("It's Just the Flu" ~2,000 per chapter; "A to Z" ~3,000 per chapter (PRE-WRITTEN); "Rock Bottom" ~1,000 per chapter; Deaf Jay will be ~3,000 per chapter (PRE-WRITTEN)). With longer chapter it would possibly be months between updates; If I were to do 9,000 to 11,000 words per chapter like this author my stories would be updated once every 3 or 4 months to possibly once a year. By taking that long for a single chapter, I feel that I would not keep readers interest let alone my own to write it. I also want to take into consideration for those whose mind wanders with longer chapters- like me- and for people who may not speak English for a first language, I don't want to throw a lot at them at once. My chapters will NEVER be under 1,000 words. If short chapters are a problem for you, I have two suggestions for you: 1) Don't read. 2) For this story don't read every chapter as I post. Wait and read the chapters in groups (Ex.: groups of five chapters would be about 5,000 words). This is FanFiction, if I wanted to read long chapters, I would read an actual, physical book. I am a graduate degree student who always struggled in school- I don't have time or patience to make 10,000-word chapters. There is also the fact that I might be an undiagnosed dyslectic.**

**Secondly, I believe that this part was made in reference to the fact that I didn't intensely check the grammar before posting it. Like I said, it was late and I wanted to get the chapter up. Does it bother you if I just run it through Grammarly before posting then come back to it later to do a more intense check? I have said this before, but I don't use a Beta. But just because I don't use a Beta, that doesn't mean I will post a chapter with obvious mistakes. I do go back later and re-read the chapter, edit, and replace the chapter when necessary, as most times I am posting chapters anywhere from midnight to four or five in the morning my time after being up all night.**

**Third thing is once again about the details that I provide in the story. Before apparently, I wasn't paying attention to the details that I wrote. This time, I am not giving enough. I did not give details when Jay was being held because that is not something, I feel that I can write well or realistically. I also want to remind you all that this is not a case-based story; it is about Jay having the assistance of a service dog, their relationship, and how Casper helps Jay. My goal is to make this- and all my other stories- as realistic as possible (reason why "Rock Bottom" is on hiatus), so that means Rhodes not telling details about Jay's condition. "Why is that?" one may ask… Well, there is this called HIPAA, which legally forbids the discussion of one's medical details without their knowledge or consent. I would imagine that Jay is that person who doesn't want others to know what's happening to him when he believes it would cause them to view him as weak. Now, if people are wondering about episode 7x10 where Will gives the team an update about Jay- I would like to believe that Will was told as the next of kin and he decided to share that information with the team as a brother and not a doctor. Note that Marcel, who was the doctor working on Jay, never talked to the team about Jay's condition. From my understanding from researching HIPAA, Will could have been told as next of kin as Jay was unconscious and in emergency surgery. I do pay attention to details as I want realism in my stories, this author wrote a story about Jay getting a service dog as well and the process that they wrote about him getting a SD from an organization was not realistic of the actual process. Now I understand that this is FanFiction and people can do what they want, but my _personal goal_ is to be realistic to bring knowledge to certain subjects and service dogs for PTSD is one of them**

**Sorry for the long authors note, but I wanted to explain the last chapter, though I don't need to explain myself, I wanted to make sure more readers weren't confused. To make up for it, here is a chapter that I think many of you have been waiting for.**

* * *

The next morning, Will arrives early, just before six, to let Casper out before his shift; he enters Jay's room to see the two still sleeping. Jay is sleeping on his back with Casper on top of his legs, "Casper," Will quietly calls.

Casper looks up at his red-headed human. "Come on, let's go outside," Will prompts. Casper looks at his sleeping human before looking back at Will who helps him off the high bed. Once down, Will puts the vest back on Casper before walking out of Jay's room.

In the early hours of the hospital, there aren't too many people to question the yellow lab as he passes. Used to being let out early in the morning and being taken right back inside, Casper does what he needs and leads Will back into the building.

"Will," Connor stops him as they re-enter the hospital. "Why do you have a service dog with you?"

"This is Casper, he's Jay's; and I think that Jay would appreciate it you didn't make a big deal about it when you check on him later," Will hints.

"Got it," Connor agrees.

With that out of the way, Will makes his way back to Jay's room where he finds his brother now laying on his side. Will helps Casper back onto the bed where he curls up where Jay's knees are bent.

Seeing that his brother is still sleeping and Casper is content that he is once again with his human, Will leaves to start his shift in the ED.

* * *

Jay wakes up around eight o'clock with a weight on his chest. Looking down he sees yellow fur, "Casper?" he questions.

Hearing his name, Casper looks up to see his human. Seeing Jay awake, Casper moves closer to Jay licking his face and anything he can reach.

Jay gives the dog as good as a rubbing that he can with the vest on. Seeing Casper for himself brings a relief that Jay can't describe in words.

Jay manages to sit up slightly, making Casper move a little, but it seems that he only manages to find a way to be closer to Jay. "I'm okay," he tells the dog before looking up when he hears a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" asks a familiar voice.

Jay looks up to see his partner, "Yeah."

"Rhodes said you were going to be okay. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. I'm just glad that Casper's okay," he answers while rubbing the dog's head.

"Jay, you don't always have to be fine," Hailey reminds him.

"Do you know why they took me? I couldn't get anything out of them."

"Not yet. They spent the night in a holding cell; I'm going into the district once I leave, but I wanted to check on you first and I thought that someone could use some food," Hailey says motioning to the bowls and bag of dog food she brought with her.

"You're the best," Jay tells her, grateful.

Hailey goes into the bathroom attached to his room to full the one dish with water and the other with some food.

"Can you help him down?" Jay asks as the bed is too high for Casper to get down on his own.

"No problem," Hailey answers as she helps the dog off the bed. The two watch as Casper eats his food, "Do you want to talk about anything?" she asks.

"Not really," Jay answers.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know. I'm just still trying to process."

"Okay, I'm here when you're ready."

"Thanks."

"Do you need anything before I go back to the district?"

"Can you help Casper back up? I don't want him to hurt himself," Jay asks when he sees Casper is done eating.

Hailey nods before helping Casper back on the bed where he curls back up with Jay.

* * *

"Good morning Detective," Rhodes greets as he enters the room.

"Hey, Doc. When can I get out of here?"

"Your EKG looks good; I'll do a quick exam and we can figure out where you are from that." Rhodes removes some of the bandages and looks at the burns from the taser and the lacerations on his wrist from being chained up. "This is healing nicely," Rhodes comments.

Rhodes then has Jay move around to test his mobility, "Okay, I'm going to send up a physical therapist to help you with mobility. It's normal to be stiff after what you went through. I also want psych to talk to you before you're released."

"I don't need to talk to psych, I'm fine."

"Standard procedure. Do you want me to lower the bed some?" Rhodes asks jerking his head to Casper.

"Um, yeah, thanks," Jay stutters.

* * *

The physical therapist doesn't arrive until after lunch, leaving Jay time to wonder what is going on. How come there were no questions from Connor? Will he tell anyone?

When the physical therapist comes in Casper jumps down from the bed and lays down beside the chair for visitors.

The physical therapist has Jay stand up and walk around some before showing him some stretches to help with the mobility in his arms and shoulders.

"So, I can go home now?" Jay asks when the session is over.

"That will be up to Dr. Rhodes," the physical therapist informs him.

"But don't you have any say?"

"Dr. Rhodes will read my report, but he has the final say."

Jay sighs before leaning back into the pillow and the physical therapist takes this as his cue to leave.

Jay is alone for barely five minutes when Will shows up at his door. "Is this a bad time?" the older brother questions.

"No, it's fine."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I can go home," Jay hints.

"Rhodes will decide that. And I will know if you sign out AMA."

"You know I hate hospitals."

"I know, but it's for your own good. Do you want me to take Casper out for you?"

"Do have time?"

"Yes," Will answers before turning to the dog. "Come on Casper," he calls and attaches the leash.

* * *

Will has no problems as everyone they pass seem to understand what Casper is once they read the patches on his vest. Casper does what he needs to before leading Will back to Jay's room.

Entering the hospital room, Will notices that Jay is deep in thought, "Something on your mind?" he questions.

"How come Rhodes didn't say anything? He just asked if I wanted the bed lowered for him," Jay tilts his head towards Casper, "but he didn't ask why I have him or even make a comment."

"He saw me with Casper when I let him out this morning."

"What happened?"

"He asked why I had a service dog with me and I said that his name is Casper, he belonged to you and not to make a big deal out of it."

"Do you think he's judging me– you know that I can't do my job?"

"No, Connor's not like that. If he had questions, he would have mentioned it to me but he just agreed. Jay, the majority of people aren't going to care why you have Casper. You're still the same person as before."

"Then why does it feel different?"

"Because you're confronting your demons instead of avoiding them."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I need to get back to work, but have a nurse page me if you need anything."

"Okay."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"Good."

* * *

"How's Jay?" Kim asks Hailey when they catch a few minutes to themselves.

"He's doing okay– considering. He's still processing what happened, but he's tough."

"Is he getting released today?"

"I don't know. Rhodes needs to check him out."

"Is there anything we can do?" Kim questions talking about her and the other officers of the unit.

"You know how he is," Hailey answers referring to the fact that Jay keeps things close to the vest.

"I know. I just thought I would offer," Kim responds.

"I'm sure he appreciates the thought."

* * *

"So, can I go home?" Jay asks when Rhodes re-enters his room.

"The physical therapist said you did well," Rhodes comments. "But psych still needs to talk to you and I want to keep you for one more day. So, if everything is good on their end, you can go home tomorrow afternoon."

"When do I talk to psych?" Jay asks, wanting to mentally prepare for that conversation.

"Will wants you to talk to Dr. Charles, so once he's free," Rhodes answers. "The latest you'll talk to him is tomorrow morning."

"Great," Jay mutters.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"No. I'm good."

"Okay, if you need-"

"If I need anything hit the call button," Jay says at the same time.

"Okay, I'll be back to check on you later," Rhodes tells him before leaving the room.

Sensing that something is not right with his human, Casper climbs onto the bed and cuddles into Jay's side. "I'm okay," he tells the dog.

* * *

The rest of the day, Jay is alone for the most part, sans when the nurses and Rhodes make their rotations to check on him and Will checking in on him whenever he gets a break.

Will sneaks in some take out pasta in an attempt to get Jay to actually eat dinner, wanting to make up for the fact that Jay's stuck in the hospital for another night.

After Jay eats his dinner, Dr. Charles stops by. "Is this a bad time?" he asks while poking his head in the doorway.

"No," Jay sighs.

"I was hoping we could talk about what happened and how you're handling it."

"I know."

"Okay. Do you want to start with what lead you to end up here?"

"I was jumped and taken. I was beaten until my unit found me," he answers scratching Casper's head.

"What happened between the time you were taken and when your team found you?"

"Whatever they could think of."

Seeing that Jay isn't in any hurry to open up, Dr. Charles decides to take a different approach, "Who's this?" he asks indicating to Casper.

"You can read," Jay answers.

"I can, but I would like you to tell me."

"His name is Casper."

"And what does Casper do for you?"

Jay's breathing becomes faster, so Casper starts licking anything that he can reach to distract Jay. "He helps me."

"Helps you with what?"

"With– with my PTSD," Jay answers, the last word whispered.

"And how has your PTSD been since you were taken?" Charles asks seeing an opening.

The next hour is spent with Charles asking questions and Jay giving short responses, not wanting to be open and say something that prevents him from going home.

* * *

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Will asks when he comes back in from letting Casper out for the night Casper.

"No, go home and sleep in a real bed."

"Okay, but if you need anything just call me."

"I know."

"Has Hailey been here?"

"No, she's still at the district. She's stuck with more work right now since she's the only detective," Jay yawns.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"'kay," Jay sighs moving into a more comfortable position on the bed, which Will takes as his cue to leave.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kevin asks.

"He's probably been by himself all day, we know Hailey didn't have any time to visit. The least we can do is check on him," Vanessa tells him.

"He has his brother," Adam tells her.

"Will was working today. His hours are just as crazy as ours," Kim adds as they get to the door of his room.

The four look in to see Jay asleep, but what their eyes go to is Casper on the bed with him. They all look to each other– confused. Before any of them have a chance to say anything, they hear a monitor speed up as Jay is dreaming.

Debating if they should do something; the girls voting _yes_ and Adam disagreeing, citing how the last time he almost ended up getting punched in the face, Kevin stops them pointing inside of the room, "Look."

The other three look to see what he is talking about and see Casper now moving on top of Jay, applying pressure that calms him making the monitor go back to its normal rhythm.

They all start talking at once.

"What was that?" Adam asks.

"What just happened?" Vanessa questions.

"Did he just do what I think he did?" Kim adds.

Kevin being the reasonable one of the group looks around the room and notices the blue vest sitting on the chair next to the bed on the side of the door. The patch, _PTSD Service Dog in Training _stands out like a sore thumb.

"Did you know?" Kevin asks.

"I don't think anyone knew," Kim responds.

"I think we should leave," Vanessa adds. "We aren't supposed to know."

* * *

**A/N: First I would like to apologize, again, for the long author's note at the top. I hate putting them at the top and this was the last chapter that I wanted to do that on. On a different note– the others know now.**

**Regarding the last few chapters:**

**-I reread before posting the last chapter to be sure, but if I missed it let me know. I don't think I mentioned in this story that Rhodes is gone now, but I have so many stories in progress right now that I don't know if I am using him or Marcel. If this needs to be fixed let me know.**

**-I skimmed over the talk with Charles because I am knot informed on that area and I didn't want to screw it up.**

**Questions & Comments (I realized I didn't do this in the last chapter):**

**floopdeedoopdee- Chapter 28- Great chapter! I can't wait to see what you do to Jay. Not sure what you have planned for the next couple of chapters but maybe after that, because of what happens to Jay, Casper can "earn his keep" (LoL) so to speak and be there for Jay if he is having a hard time recovering. Heck, anything you do will be awesome! You do your stuff and I'll be here waiting! Well done once again! You make my day when I see a chapter from you.**

**Casper is defiantly going to be there for Jay.**

**juu-story- Chapter 28- Poor Casper.. glade Will go to get him out and back home.. in Love they way how you write his point of view ! And thr fact that Casper be a character of your story ( i mean in not just a dog, you described and use him like a human and i found that wonderful !) i'm scared for Jay! Hope they found him quickly and safe! Ruzek is a little rude…**

**I'm glad that you liked seeing Casper's point of view. It was actually fun for me to write.**

**LostCause789- Chapter 28- Ahhhhhh! Poor Jay! I'm so happy that Casper is safe and sound though. I can't wait to see how the team handles this!**

**How the team handles this will defiantly be addressed.**

**FanficAddictER- Chapter 28- Absolutely love this story please please keep it going as long as possible. Jay and casper's connection, I love it. And the way you bring in real disorders that affect soliders and military personnel makes the story have so much grit and heart. And makes you connect so much more with it. Thankyou can't wait to see what's next in jay and Casper's development. Also will this be an upstead fanfic?**

**My goal with this story and with "Rock Bottom" is to bring to light real issues and hopefully portray them authentically and realistically. With that being said, if one of the topics that I touch is something that anyone ever deals with and they don't feel that it is accurate, feel free to send me a PM- I am all for having a conversation about it to make it more realistic. At the moment it is undecided if this is an Upstead fic. So, I've answered this a few times already, but I'm on the fence about platonic versus romantic Upstead. If you've read all my stories you can see that there is a parallel to their relationship in the actual show. "It's Just the Flu"- platonic; "Man's Best Friend" – platonic but Vanessa is shipping Upstead; "A to Z"- there are a few chapters where I am experimenting with romantic Upstead; "Rock Bottom"- not enough written to be determined. So, if you're still with me- I was hoping to have decided by watching what happened in the show at the end of Season 7, but due to COVID/pandemic and the US's lack of leadership in the ability to handle the situation (I'm from the US) that was unable to happen so it's kinda up in the air but at the same time I'm leaning towards it. If it does happen in this Fic, I want the timing to be right. This is about Jay and his PTSD, I don't want Hailey to see, to be taking advantage of Jay as he is "vulnerable" from dealing with his PTSD.**

**floopdeedoopdee- Chapter 29- Wow! Fantastic chapter! The way you built up the tension by jumping from one scene to another, great job! I'm having a hard time doing that in a story I'm doing. I'm overthinking it, so you've inspired me once again! I love this story. I hope we can see some of Jay's aftercare and trauma from what he went through and maybe the unit witness it also but I know whatever you do will be great! Well done once again!**

**I'm glad you liked how the chapter was set up. I didn't know if it would actually have the effect that I wanted. Just from reading your stories, and not even knowing what your working on or knowing you, I think you are overthinking it. I love all of your stories and everything that you write is amazing–just go with your gut. Like I said this story is about how a service dog can help people with PTSD, so you will be seeing more of mental toll that being taken has affected him more than the physical toll. This will be eye-opening to the unit.**

**Britt- Chapter 28- So glad that Casper is with Will and that the team knows that Jay is missing (Adam is quite annoying to be honest) and hopefully they'll find him soon.**

**I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm not the biggest fan of Adam so I don't know if I can write him in character so I just make him the "bad guy". Also, every story needs an antagonist and I think I unintentionally made Adam the one in this story.**

**Update on all stories for now:**

**-"Rock Bottom": I have not forgotten about it. It will be completed, but I am holding off on working on that until I have time to do more research to portray the subject in a respectful manner.**

**-"Man's Best Friend": (Maybe) One more chapter for now, then going on another hiatus. I am going to use this time to edit and add it to my AO3 as well as deciding on how I want to move forward with Hailey and Jay's relationship. Let me know what you think.**

**-Whump prompt by floopdeedoopdee: in progress. Have part of chapter 1 done, it will be 5 chapters. I will post when it is complete, one chapter a week.**

**-Deaf Jay: I am still on chapter 3. The problem with that one is that I am using the deaf chapter from here for the first chapter, so I am trying to make all chapters around 3,000 words which takes me more time than my normal 1,000-2,000 word chapters.**

**-"A to Z": One more chapter that is about 50% written. Hopefully, be done on time, but I did lose motivation for a while. **

**-"One-shot Sunday": Not completely off the table. If I did, I would be taking requests- I would just need to figure out how that would work so the request would all be in one place.**

**So this says "for now" because I am unsure if I should continue, I am tired of explaining myself. Nothing is set in stone yet; but if I did stop, they would be put on an indefinite hiatus but they would remain on this site (they won't be deleted). As for the unpublished stories, I am excited for both so... I don't even know what to write. I wouldn't leave the site completely, possibly just stop writing for the fandom. Although sometimes I do feel like deleting everything. I know to expect criticism, but I am tired of the same thing that has already been addressed.**


	31. Chapter 31: What Happens Now?

"What do we do now?" Adam asks as they walk out of the hospital.

"Let's go back to my apartment, see if we can put these pieces together," Kim offers.

The other officers agree, wanting to see what they all know and put the puzzle together.

* * *

"Does anyone want anything to drink?" Kim asks the group once they are back in her apartment.

"Do you have beer?" Kevin asks.

"You know better," Kim tells her former patrol partner, reaching into her fridge.

After passing everyone a beer, Kim sits down next to Adam on the couch. "So, what does everyone know?"

"His dog is weird," Adam answers. "It doesn't act like a puppy," he elaborates after he gets looks from the rest of the group.

"I just thought he was a well-behaved dog," Kevin comments.

"Hailey would come home from Jay's and comment on how she was helping to train him," Vanessa tells the others.

"Did she ever comment on what they were training him for?" Kim asks.

"Not really."

"She had to know," Adam remarks. "Those two are attached at the hip."

"Adam," Kim scolded.

"I mean, I know I'm new and I don't know him as well as you guys, but he just seems different since he got Casper," Vanessa comments.

"None of us _really_ knows Jay. He's really private," Kim tells her. "But you're right he does seem different."

"So, what do we do now?" Kevin asks.

"Should we do anything?" Vanessa asks. "I mean, if he wanted us to know he would tell us, right?"

"Yeah, so the plan is to act normal and let him come to us when he's ready," Kim announces giving Adam a stern look.

"What?" Adam questions.

"Please be careful about what you say around Jay."

"I am!" he argues.

"You've been saying some insensitive things around him lately."

"Like what?" Adam asks confused.

"That he shouldn't have gotten a dog?" Kim states trying to jog his memory.

"It's the truth."

"Just try to think before you speak Ruze," Kevin tells him while rolling his eyes at his best friend.

Vanessa walks into her and Hailey's home to find Hailey watching cleaning up in the kitchen. "Hey, where were you?" the blond detective asks.

"Went to Kim's with the others."

"Anything interesting?"

"Just Adam being clueless," Vanessa laughs.

"He's defiantly something else," Hailey comments about her ex-boyfriend.

"So, what kind of tricks do you help Jay teach Casper?" Vanessa asks trying to get information on the new discovery.

"What do you mean?

"You're over his place a lot. And you said you were helping Jay train him."

"Just basic things."

"He seems to be really well behaved for a puppy," Vanessa hints.

"He's a good dog," Hailey agrees.

Vanessa just nods.

"Okay, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting weird," Hailey tells her.

"I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Okay, then," Hailey draws out.

"Is Jay okay?" Vanessa asks.

"Yeah, you heard Rhodes," Hailey reminds her. "He should be released tomorrow. Probably have a week or two of medical, but that's never stopped him before."

"But what about mentally. Doesn't he have PTSD?"

"You can trust him to have your back," Hailey avoids answering the question.

"Casper's not just a house pet, is he?"

"Alright, Jay will kill me if I told you this, _but _he's a total dog dad," Hailey tells her with a teasing smile.

Vanessa sighs, "That's not what I meant."

Hailey gives her a look.

"So, the rest of us might have gone to Med to visit Jay after work since you couldn't," Vanessa starts.

"Okay," Hailey responds trying not to give anything away.

"When we got to his room Casper was sleeping on the bed. Then Jay started having a nightmare or something and then Casper laid on top of him and it looked like whatever was happening stopped," Vanessa stops to see her reaction,

"What do you think about that?" Hailey asks trying to get a read on what Vanessa and the others know.

"Well, about that. Kevin spotted a blue vest in a chair and we saw some patches."

"And?"

"Jay has a service dog. And we aren't supposed to know."

"It's mostly to help with nightmares. That's probably what part of his PTSD affects him the most. He will have your back. And he was going to tell you guys when he was ready, but-"

"But he's a private guy."

"He just needs time."

"But Casper helps?"

"Yeah."

"Now, apparently, we need to keep Adam from doing something stupid."

Hailey raises her eyebrow in question.

"Kim said we should act normal and let him tell us when he's ready. Then, Kev told Adam to think before he speaks."

"He does have that problem," Hailey comments. "So, we just have to intercept him every time he goes to talk to Jay. Great."

"I'm sorry, I thought it was a good idea to check on him."

"Hey, don't apologize for that. You were being a good teammate."

"So, what happens now? I mean, I know what Kim said, but you're closer to Jay. Will we hurt Jay if we keep that we know from him?"

"I'll talk to Jay later," Hailey promises.

"So, we're keeping it from him?"

"No. I just want to wait until he's released. I'll talk to him about it when he's home."

"Should we be the ones to tell him?"

"No, I can do it. This PTSD is a bit of a sensitive topic for him."

"Okay. Sorry to put you in this position."

"It's okay. You guys meant well," Hailey bids Vanessa a goodnight before finishing what she doing before they stopped to talk.

Hailey's now thinking of a way to break it to Jay that the others know. She knows that he wasn't ready for other people to find out, but she doesn't regret having Will bring Casper to Med for Jay. Maybe she should talk to Will to see if he has any ideas on how to break the news to Jay. She knew that keeping this from the others would come back to bite them, but this is not how she thought it would.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, I'm not happy with this chapter but I wanted a filler to give a look into what the others are thinking. Sorry it's on the shorter side of my word range, but I had trouble getting to the 1,000 words.**

**So this is the last chapter for a while. I want to take this time to edit and move this story over to my AO3 account. I also want to figure out where I want Hailey and Jay's relationship to go. Hopefully we can see what's going to happing in the show soon with NBC announcing Once Chicago returning on November 11. Fingers crossed that the COVID situation doesn't get worse and allows them to return to filming safely.**

**Questions & Comments:**

**viggochk- Chapter 30- I love this story! I have a dog that Ive trained as a therapy dog (not as a service dog). He has visited hospitals and schools with me and he knows how to apply pressure to calm nervous kids and stressed patients.**

**That's so cool. I have a friend from my undergrad whose dog was certified as a therapy dog the year after he graduated. I don't know if his dog knows how to apply pressure though. Well, I hope that how I described them teaching Casper was accurate.**

**Lauren (Guest Aug. 22, 2020)- Chapter 30- Nice to know he's okay. Just wish he opens up more to Dr. Charles though. Also nice of the team to come visit him knowing that Hailey didn't visit him that day any by coming they now know about Casper. I really hope by knowing, they'll be able to help him.**

**Yes, nut I feel that Jay wouldn't willingly open up– at least not at first. If I remember correctly, from season five when he was forced into therapy, he wasn't open until he was ready at the end of the episode where he went on his own (not because it was an ultimatum that Hailey had for him for they to stay partners) and that was when he was talking to a complete stranger. Here, he is talking to Dr. Charles; I wouldn't go as far to say that they are friends, but I believe they would be acquaintances and he would be more hesitant to talk with someone he knows and who also happens to work with his brother. As for the others, we'll see what happens.**

**Patty (Guest Aug. 23, 2020)- Chapter 30- Vanessa may be the youngest of them all, but she's the wisest. They aren't supposed to know. Wonder what they'll do with the knowledge they have. Great chapter. Loved it all.**

**She is. I feel like she is very perceptive in the show about Hailey and Jay's relationship, so I'm trying to show how she is perceptive to more than just that.**

**Daiseyangel- Chapter 30- Now everyone knows allthough Jay doesn't know it yet of course. I hope they don't treat him differently. Hopefully they can knock some sense into Adam so he doesn't say something stupid.**

**We will see what happens. Adam on the other hand... I don't think he thinks things through and that's the way I'm writing min, other than being an ass to Jay, is that he doesn't have a filter between his thoughts and what he actually says.**

**Update on all stories:**

**-"Rock Bottom": I have not forgotten about it. It will be completed, but I am holding off on working on that until I have time to do more research to portray the subject in a respectful manner.**

**-"Man's Best Friend": Going to edit and add to AO3. This gives me time to decide how I want Hailey and Jay's relationship to go. Give me your input: Platonic Upstead or Romantic Upstead?**

**-Whump prompt by floopdeedoopdee: in progress. Have 1 chapter complete and started the second, it will be 5 chapters. I will post when it is complete, one chapter a week.**

**-Deaf Jay: I am still on chapter 3. The problem with that one is that I am using the deaf chapter from here for the first chapter, so I am trying to make all chapters around 3,000 words which takes me more time than my normal 1,000-2,000 word chapters. Originally I wanted to do about eight chapters pre-written and post weekly, but this is really slow because of time I have to write. If I post what I have now I can do biweekly or once a month updates on it. The majority of the first chapter is the same, but I added to it and I also changed some things to make it (hopefully) more accurate to Jay's situation. So, even if you read that chapter, I would suggest skimming for the changes that were made.**

**-"One-shot Sunday": First one will either be up this Sunday or next Sunday. I'm taking requests, so if you want something leave a comment on the first one-shot or send me a PM. The first one is going to be a modified version of a one-shot that didn't make "A to Z". Same plot, less whump.**


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